1^.' 


CORRECT  POSITIONS  FOR  READING 

The  book  should  be  below  the  level  of  the  chin,  so  as  not  to  hide  the 
face  and  obstruct  the  voice. 


INCORRECT  POSITIONS  FOR  READING 

Book   too   high   and    too   near   the 
eyes. 


Book    too    low    and    close    to    the 
body.     Neck  bent. 


^o^ 


A  HANDBOOK 


OF 


AMERICAN  SPEECH 


BY 


CALVIN  L.  LEWIS,  A.M. 

PROFESSOR  OF  ENGLISH,     HAMILTON   COLLEGE,  CLINTON,  N.  Y. 


SCOTT,    FORESMAN    AND    COIVIPANY 
CHICAGO  NEW   YORK 

k  1  8 


COPYRIGHT,    1916,    BY 

SCOTT,  FORESMAN  AND  COMPANY 


C  o-f:> .    1 
PEEFACE 

The  recent  revival  of  interest  in  Oral  English 
has  met  with  one  serious  obstacle.  It  finds  few 
teachers  trained  in  Oral  English  and  able  to  teach 
it.  No  one  now  questions  the  desirability  of  more 
attention  to  the  oral  side  of  the  subject  than  has 
been  given  in  the  past,  but  many  superintendents 
and  principals  hesitate  to  introduce  oral  work  for 
lack  of  properly  trained  instructors. 

There  is  little  doubt  that  before  many  years 
adequate  oral  endowment  and  training  will  come 
to  be  a  necessary  part  of  the  English  teacher's 
equipment.  Meanwhile  ways  must  be  devised  for 
instructing  pupils  in  the  elements  of  accurate  and 
effective  speech. 

The  writer  has  frequently  been  asked  to  pre- 
pare a  textbook  to  be  used  by  teachers  without 
special  training.  He  does  not  believe  that  a  book 
can  be  written  which  will  wholly  take  the  place 
of  personal  instruction.  He  does  think,  however, 
that  it  is  not  impossible  for  an  untrained  teacher 
to  teach  some  of  the  fundamental  facts  of  cor- 
rect speech  from  a  simple  text.  The  Handbook  is 
such  a  text.  It  is  for  use  in  the  English  class 
room  and  out  of  it  by  the  pupil. 

That  the  Handbook  may  the  more  readily  be 
understood  hy  beginning  students  and  untrained 
teachers,  none  but  common  and  simple  terms  have 


2  AMEBICAN  SPEECH 

been  used  in  it;  technical  terms  have  been 
avoided ;  no  terminology  has  been  created.  No 
diacritical  marks  have  been  used  to  puzzle  and 
discourage  the  beginner  and  to  detract  from  the 
vocal  aspect  of  the  subject. 

The  Handbook  is  suitable  for  use  in  any  begin- 
ning class,  whether  of  college  freshmen,  high 
school  students,  or  pupils  of  upper  elementary 
grades.  It  is  probably  not  wise  to  attempt  to  do 
much  intensive  work  with  children  whose  voices 
have  not  changed.  Simple  speech  defects,  how- 
ever, like  those  of  pronunciation,  enunciation, 
dialect,  lisping,  etc.,  should  be  corrected  as  early 
as  the  intelligence  of  the  child  permits — the 
earlier  the  better.  None  but  a  skillful  and  expe- 
rienced teacher  should  attempt  to  handle  an 
unchanged  or  a  changing  voice. 

The  exercises  and  illustrations  provided  should 
be  put  before  the  pupil  when  he  is  practicing,  so 
that  he  can  see  as  well  as  hear  what  he  is  doing. 
A  Manual  goes  with  the  Handbook  and  explains 
its  use.  Teachers  will  find  that  the  best  and  quick- 
est results  will  come  from  following  the  direc- 
tions given  in  the  Manual.  If  anyone  undertakes 
to  use  the  Handbook  without  a  teacher,  he  should 
procure  a  Manual  and  follow  the  directions  it 
contains. 

The  quotations  used  as  Exercises  in  the  Hand- 
book are  taken  almost  without  exception  from  the 
masterpieces  of  English  and  American  literature 
set  for  reading  and  study  in  the  upper  grammar 
grades  and  the  high  school.     The  Selections  for 


PEE FACE  3 

Practice  are  the  accumulations  of  years  of  teach- 
ing declamation.  Many  were  written  by  college 
students;  others  were  adaptations  from — who 
knows  where! — newspapers,  magazines,  etc.  A 
few  were  lifted  bodily  from  easily  recognized 
sources.  Because  the  copies  of  most  of  these 
selections  exist  only  in  manuscript  form  with 
nothing  about  the  manuscript  to  indicate  the  name 
of  the  writer,  the  compiler  of  the  Handbook  finds 
himself  unable  to  make  proper  acknowledginent 
of  authorship.  He  apologizes  for  this  inability 
and  thanks  the  writers  who  have  thus  unwittingly 
contributed  to  his  book. 

Calvin  L.  Lewis. 

Hamilton    College, 
Clinton,  New  York 
1916 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Preface   1 

CHAPTER-S 

I.     The  Organs  Used  to  Produce  Speech 9 

II.     The  Elements  of  Speech 

Vowel  Sounds 19 

Quality  of  Tone 26 

Consonant  Sounds 39 

The  Spelling  of  Consonant  Sounds 52 

III.  Sounds  Combined  into  Words 54 

Difficult   Consonant   Endings 56 

First  Syllables 61 

Middle    Sounds 67 

Final  Syllables 68 

IV.  Words  Combined  Into  Sentences 72 

Variations  of  Speech 7o 

Eate    91 

When  to  Change  Eate 94 

Quality    97 

Change  of  Quality 98 

Pitch    106 

Inflections    ll-'5 

Emphasis    116 

Placing  Emphasis 119 

End  Words 125 

Poetry   128 

V.     Dialect  Speech 132 

VI.     Speaking  in  Public 136 

The  Subject 139 

IIow  to  Prepare  a  Speech 141 

VII.     Oral  Composition 147 

5 


6  AMERICAN  SPEECH 

PAGE 

VIII.     Argument    154 

Debate  155 

Material   157 

Handling  Material 160 

Affirmative   Proof 161 

On  the  Floor 166 

After  the  Debate 168 

IX.     Selections  for  Practice 

The    Derelict 171 

Houses  of  Moloch 172 

A  Galilean  Vagabond 174 

— The  Burdens  of  War 175 

Neill  at  Cawnpore 177 

A  Soldier  of  France 179 

The  Law  of  Life 181 

Another  Day 182 

Two  Pictures 183 

Deathless  Endeavor 185 

An  Accident 186 

A  Man's  Heart 188 

The  Boston  Massacre 189 

John  Brown  's  Spirit 191 

Grant  and  Lee 192 

HE  Spirit  of  the  South 194 

San   Martin 195 

The  Oregon  Trail 196 

The  Acquittal  of  Burr 198 

Christopher  Columbus 199 

The  Murder  op  Abraham  Lincoln 201 

Lincoln 202 

Lincoln  's    Faith 204 

The  Fame  of  Abraham  Lincoln 206 

People  or  Pigs 207 

An  Enemy  of  the  People 208 

The  Predatory  Eich 209 

Aliens  in  America 211 

The  Common  Man 212 

Puritan  Principles 214 

War  a  Symbol  of  Duty 216 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS  7 

PAGE 

The  Spirit  of  the  Past 217 

Life  Through  Socialism 219 

We  Poor  Dead 220 

Government  and  Business 221 

The  Hills  of  Death 222 

The  Sculptured  Figures  of  Soci::tv 224 

Chivalry    225 

The  Wandering  Jew 226 

The  Children  of  the  Poor 228 

Poverty   229 

The  Fault-Finder 231 

A  Weakness  of  Our  Government 232 

The  Dreamers 233 

An  Allegory  of  the  Centuries 234 

The    Fooi 237 

Ambition   238 

A  List  of  Eeference  Books 241 


u      , 


9^0^.  "iV^i^n 


CHAPTER  I 
THE   ORGANS  USED   TO  PRODUCE   SPEECH 

1.     The  Vocal  Organs  are: 

a.  A  bellows  for  collecting,  compressing,  and 
controlling  air  (chest,  diaphragm,  lungs). 

h.  A  pipe  connected  with  this  bellows  which 
contains  vibrating  cords.  (Windpipe,  larynx, 
vocal  cords.) 


Nasal  cavity 

Tongue 

Larynx 

Windpipe 

Lungs 
Diaphragm 


Hard  palate 

Soft  palate 

I'liaryux 

Epiglottis 


Fig.  I 


c.  Resonators  through  which  sound  from  the 
vocal  cords  passes.  (Mouth,  pharynx,  nasal  cav- 
ity, etc.) 

9 


10  AMEBICAN  SPEECH 

Breath 

2.  How  breath  is  produced.  In  the  upper  half 
of  the  body  is  an  air-tight  cavity  known  as  the 
chest.  The  floor  of  this  cavity  is  a  partition  which 
may  be  raised  and  lowered  at  will.  In  the  chest 
cavity  are  suspended  five  lung-lobes,  so  made  and 
adjusted  that  no  air  can  pass  through  them  or 
around  them  into  the  chest  cavity.  The  lung  lobes 
are  attached  at  the  top  by  the  bronchial  tubes  to 
the  windpipe.  The  lungs  are  composed  of  masses  of 
minute,  elastic  cells,  each  of  which  connects  with 
a  hair-like  tube.  These  tubes  connect  with  other 
larger  tubes,  and  these  with  still  others  until  they 
terminate  in  bronchial  tubes  which  connect  with 
the  windpipe.  It  should  be  noted  that  the  lungs 
are  not  hollow  bags,  as  many  suppose  them  to  be, 
but  a  mass  of  minute,  somewhat  elastic  tubes  and 
air-cells,  encased  in  a  flexible,  elastic  covering. 

The  bottoms  of  the  lung-lobes  are  concave  and 
they  rest  on  the  convex  diaphragm.  When  nor- 
mal, the  air  pressure  within  the  lungs  and  with- 
out is  the  same.  Now,  if  the  diaphragm  is  flat- 
tened and  the  walls  of  the  lower  part  of  the  chest 
widened,  a  partial  vacuum  will  be  produced  within 
the  chest.  But  ''nature  abhors  a  vacuum,"  and 
to  satisfy  this  one  the  air  rushes  into  the  lungs 
through  the  windpipe  and  expands  the  air-cells  of 
the  lungs  until  they  become  large  enough  to  fill  the 
vacuum.  Then  the  diaphragm  and  the  chest  wall 
contract  and  press  the  lungs  up  against  the  firm, 
bony  walls  of  the  chest.     This  pressure,  together 


TEE  OEGANS  USED  TG  PEODUCE  SPEECH 


11 


with  the  natural  elasticity  of  the  air-cells,  forces 
the  air  out  through  the  '.vindpipe. 

3.  Inhalation  and  exhalation.  These  two 
movements,  called  inhalation  and  exhalation,  are 
like  the  movements  of  the  piston  of  an  engine. 


■i::'-y.-~>'—  Diaphragm 


normal 
exhalaiton 
inhalation 


Fig.  II 

Showing   the   process   of   breathing   and   its   effect   on    the   body, 

diaphragm,  and  lungs. 

and  they  are  repeated  continually  as  long  as  life 
lasts. 

There  are  two  kinds  of  breathing:  that  which 
is  done  quietly  and  without  conscious  effort,  and 
that  which  is  done  forcefully  and  sometimes  vol- 
untarily, as  in  speaking  and  singing.  The  first 
is  wholly  involuntary  and  normal;  the  second  is 
often  partly  voluntary.  The  first  is  regnilar  and 
uniform ;  the  second  varies  in  power  and  rapidity 
as  the  voice-demands  vary.  It  is  only  with  the 
latter  so-called  forced  breathing  that  we  are  con- 


12  AMERICAN  SPEECH 

cerned,  for  it  is  the  forced  breath  that  causes  the 
vocal  cords  to  vibrate  and  produce  sound. 

Hence  it  is  quite  evident  that  if  we  would  learn 
to  control  the  voice,  we  must  learn  to  control  that 
which  produces  the  voice — namely,  the  breath. 
Just  as  the  violinist  learns  to  control  the  muscles 
of  fingers,  hand,  and  arm  that  carry  the  bow,  so 
must  the  vocalist  learn  to  control  the  muscles  of 
the  diaphragm  and  of  the  lower  chest,  for  these 
make  and  manipulate  the  voice-producing  column 
of  air. 

4.  Breath  control.  It  must  be  remembered 
that  breathing,  when  properly  done,  is  done  very 
largely  with  the  bottom  of  the  chest,  not  with  the 
top.  Any  system  of  breathing  that  causes  the 
chest  to  heave  and  the  shoulders  to  rise  and  fall 
much,  is  a  faulty  system.  The  movements  of 
chest  and  shoulders,  even  in  forced  breathing, 
should  be  slight  and  hardly  perceptible. 

To  acquire  the  habit  of  deep,  diaphragmatic 
breathing  requires  practice  and  thoughtful  atten- 
tion. Think  always  that  the  breath  begins  at  the 
waist  line,  and  try  to  fill  the  lungs,  as  you  do  a 
bottle,  from  the  bottom  up. 

5.  Exercise.  Stand  with  the  body  erect  but 
not  rigid,  feet  a  little  apart,  weight  equally 
divided  between  them  and  thrown  slightly  for- 
ward, shoulders  back,  neck  straight,  chin  slightly 
raised,  arms  hanging  naturally,  or  hands  resting 
lightly  on  hips. 

Take  this  position  when  practicing  breathing  ex- 
ercises, and  later  when  practicing  vocal  exercises. 


THE  ORGANS  USED  TO  PRODUCE  SPEECH  13 

6.  Exercise.  Inhale  slowly  and  steadily  until 
the  lungs  are  filled.  Try  not  to  move  the  chest  and 
shoulders.  Note  the  tightening  of  the  waist  mus- 
cles and  the  pushing  out  and  stiffening  of  the 
lower  chest  and  the  upper  abdomen. 

Hold  the  breath  during  a  slow  count  of  five. 
(Gradually,  in  subsequent  trials,  increase  to  twelve 
or  fifteen  counts.) 

Exhale  explosively  and  completely. 

Repeat  this  whole  exercise  five  to  ten  times. 

7.  Exercise.  Inhale  quickly  and  deeply,  as 
you  would  between  the  phrases  of  a  song.  Try 
not  to  move  the  chest  and  shoulders. 

Count  as  before. 

Exhale  slowly  and  steadily  through  a  small 
opening  in  the  lips. 

A  good  way  to  control  the  exhalation  is  to 
whistle  softly  as  long  as  the  breath  lasts,  trying 
to  make  the  sound  even  and  steady.  A  constant 
effort  should  be  made  to  restrain  the  outflow  of 
breath  and  not  to  waste  it. 

Repeat  five  to  ten  times. 

8.  Exercise.    Inhale  slowly  as  before. 
Count  as  before. 

Exhale  slowly  as  before. 
Repeat  five  to  ten  times. 

9.  Exercise.    Inhale  quickly. 

Open  the  mouth  and  make  the  sound  n-n  softly. 
Hold  the  sound  as  long  as  the  breath  lasts,  trying 
to  keep  the  tone  even  and  steady. 

Repeat  five  to  ten  times. 


14  AMEBICAN  SPEECH 

10.  Exercise.    Inhale  quickly. 

Open  the  mouth  and  make  the  sound  ha-ha-ha- 
a-a-a-ah. 

Be  careful  to  bring  out  the  h  each  time  with  a 
strong  impulse  and  a  clearly  felt  movement  of  the 
diaphragm.  Prolong  the  third  ha  twice  the  time 
of  the  other  two,  and  finish  it  with  a  distinct  h. 
Do  not  inhale  between  repetitions.  Repeat  as  long 
as  the  breath  lasts,  and  try  to  make  it  last  as  long 
as  possible. 

Repeat  five  to  ten  times. 

11.  Exercise.    Inhale  quickly. 

Read  or  repeat  quietly,  in  a  clear  voice,  and  at 
an  ordinary  rate  a  passage  with  which  you  are 
familiar,  trying  to  go  as  far  in  it  as  possible  with 
one  breath. 

All  these  exercises  may  be  taken  when  standing, 
as  prescribed ;  or  when  lying  flat  on  the  back  with- 
out a  pillow;  or  when  walking.  If  taken  when 
walking  allow  the  arms  to  swing  freely. 

Breathing  exercises  should  be  practiced  as  fre- 
quently each  day  as  circumstances  permit  until 
the  habit  of  deep,  diaphragmatic  breathing  be- 
comes fixed,  and  breath  control  is  mastered. 

12.  Chest  breathing.  It  is  sometimes  objected 
that  the  prescription  not  to  move  the  chest  and 
shoulders  conflicts  with  the  directions  given  by 
teachers  of  physical  training.  These  urge  their 
pupils  to  raise  the  chest  and  shoulders  and  to 
expand  the  chest  to  its  utmost.  This  conflict  is 
only  apparent,  for  the  two  plans  are  in  no  way  at 


THE  ORGANS  USED  TO  PRODUCE  SPEECH 


15 


cross  purposes.  The  physical  training  teacher  en- 
deavors to  enlarge  the  capacity  of  the  lungs  and 
chest.  By  straightening  the  back  and  stretching 
the  intercostal  muscles,  the  physical  culture  exer- 
cises increase  the  number  of  cubic  inches  within 
the  chest.   That  means  more  breath,  better  blood, 


Fig.  Ill 

Showing  the  soft  palate  hanging  naturally  so  as  to  permit  sound 
to  pass  into  the  upper  resonators. 


improved  digestion,  and  a  dozen  other  things  of 
inestimable  value.  The  aim  of  the  vocal  teacher, 
however,  is  ditferent.  While  he  may,  and  does, 
enlarge  the  chest,  his  primary  purpose  is  to  teach 
the  pupil  to  use  what  chest  space  he  has,  and  to 
use  it  in  the  way  that  will  best  produce  the  voice. 
High  chest  breathing  is  useful  for  expanding  the 


16  AMERICAN  SPEECH 

chest,  but  it  is  incompatible  with  proper  voice 
production, 

13.  The  windpipe  and  the  vocal  cords.  The 
windpipe  is  a  tube  of  rigid  cartilage  connecting 
with  the  tubes  leading  from  the  lungs  and 
extending  upward  in  the  throat  to  a  point  about 


Fig.  IV 

Showing  the  soft  palate  acting  as  a  damper  to  shut  sound  out  of 
the  upper  resonators  and  cause  it  all  to  pass  out  of  the  mouth. 

half  way  between  the  body  and  the  chin.  It 
terminates  in  a  triangular  box,  also  of  cartilage, 
called  the  larynx.  One  angle  of  the  larynx  is  in 
front  and  forms  a  slight  •  protrusion,  commonly 
called  the  ''Adam's  apple."  Within  the  larynx 
and  stretched  horizontally  across  it  from  front  to 
rear  are  two  tape-like  strips  of  yellowish  mem- 


THE  ORGANS  USED  TO  PRODUCE  SPEECH  17 

brane.  They  are  connected  with  the  walls  of  the 
larynx,  so  that  the  air  passing  from  the  lungs 
must  go  between  them.  The  edges  of  these  vocal 
cords  come  together  in  front  and  are  attached  at 
the  back  to  two  posts  of  cartilage.  When  no  vocal 
sound  is  being  produced  these  posts  remain  apart, 
and  the  vocal  cords  lie  in  the  shape  of  the  letter  V. 
When  a  vocal  sound  is  produced,  the  posts  are 
drawn  toward  each  other  until  the  edges  of  the 
vocal  cords  touch.  Then  when  a  column  of  air  is 
forced  between  them  they  vibrate  and  produce  a 
vocal  tone. 

14.  Sound  and  speech.  It  should  be  noted  that 
the  action  of  the  breath  on  the  vocal  cords  pro- 
duces nothing  more  than  sound;  not  sound  modi- 
fied into  vowels  and  consonants,  but  merely  noise 
such  as  might  come  from  a  clarionet  or  an  organ 
pipe.  All  animals  have  the  power  to  produce 
sound;  some  have  abilitv  to  varv  the  sound 
slightly;  but  only  man  has  the  appliances  and  the 
intelligence  necessaiy  to  transform  this  sound 
into  the  elements  of  speech. 

Sounds  leaving  the  vocal  cords  vary  only  in 
volume  and  pitch.  They  are  then  modified  by  the 
organs  of  speech  into  the  speech  elements — 
voivels  and  consonants. 

15.  The  organs  of  speech.  The  organs  of 
speech  are  the  lips,  the  cheeks,  the  teeth,  the 
tongue,  the  hard  palate,  the  soft  palate,  and  the 
nasal  cavity.  Changing  the  shape  of  the  mouth 
by  changing  the  relative  position  of  these  organs 
modifies  the  sound  which  comes  from  the  vocal 


18 


AMERICAN  SPEECH 


cords  into  different  open  sounds  called  vowels.  Re- 
stricting or  checking  vowel  sounds  produces  conso- 
nant sounds.    Thus  are  the  speech  elements  formed. 


Fig.  V     . 

1.  Tlie  vocal  cords  drawn  back  for  quiet  breathing. 

2.  The  vocal  cords  in    a   whisper. 

.3.  The  vocal  cords  when  vibrating  their  full  leugtli. 
4.  The  vocal  cords  when  vibrating  half  their  length. 
Note:     4  produces  a  sound  an  octave  higher  than  3. 

NoTK  :  For  a  fuller  discussion  of  the  organs  used  to  produce  speech 
and  tlieir  action  tlio  student  may  refer  to  The  Xataral  Method  of 
Voice  Production,  by  Dr.  F.  G.  Muckey   ( Scribner's). 


CHAPTER  II 

THE  ELEMENTS  OF  SPEECH 

Vowel  Sounds 

16.  A  vowel  sound  is  an  open  sound;  that  is, 
it  is  made  with  open  throat,  mouth,  teeth,  and  lips. 
No  part  of  the  resonator  may  be  closed  w^hile  a 
vowel  is  being  sounded.  Hence  a  vowel  sound 
may  be  prolonged  as  long  as  forced  breath  is  sup- 
plied. 

Tliere  are  twelve  (some  say  thirteen)  primary 
vowel  sounds.     They  are: 

1.  00  as  in  jool  5.  a  as  in  /ai  9.  ay  as  in  fate 

2.  00  as  in  joot  6.  ah  as  in  fatherlO.  eh  as  in  then 

3.  oh  as  in  Mow  7.  er  as  in  her     11.  i  as  in  hit 

4.  aw  as  in  saiv  8.  nh  as  in  vp       12.  ee  as  in  heet 

These  twelve  sounds  may,  for  practical  pur- 
poses at  least,  be  regarded  and  used  as  the  pri- 
mary sounds  out  of  which  all  the  other  sounds  in 
American  speech  are  made. 

It  nmst  be  quite  evident  that  to  learn  to  use 
the  lang-uage  accurately,  one  must  first  learn  these 
primary  sounds — how  to  recognize  them  and  how 
to  produce  them.  This  may  be  done  in  two  ways : 
by  imitation,  and  by  a  study  of  the  mechanical 
adjustment  of  the  organs  of  speech  for  each 
sound.  Neither  method  alone  is  adequate.  Learn- 
ing by  ear  is  an  inaccurate  method,  for  the  ear.  of 

19 


20 


AMERICAN  SPEECH 


the  learner  may  be  untrue,  or  the  sounds  imitated 
may  not  be  good  models.  Learning  by  position 
may  be  difficult  because  of  physical  peculiarities 


The  00  Sound 


The  go  Sound— Side 


The  00  Sound — Front 


of  the  learner  and  resultant  awkwardness  in  ad- 
justing the  speech  organs.  The  surest  way  is  to 
use  both  methods. 

17.     Exercise.    Pronounce  first  the  vowel  sound, 
then  the  word  in  the  list  given  on  the  preceding 


TEE  ELEMENTS  OF  SPEECH 


21 


page,    beginning   with    oo    and    ending   witli    ee. 
Note   carefully   the   positions   of   the   organs    of 


The  oh  Sound 


The  oh  Sound — Side 


The  oh  Sound — Front 


speech  as  each  is  pronounced.  If  the  sound  oo  is 
correctly  made,  the  mouth  will  be  elongated  to  its 
greatest  extent  from  front  to  rear ;  the  cheeks 
will  be  flattened  and  drawn  in  against  the  teeth; 


22  AMEBICAN  SPEECH 

the  lips  will  be  pushed  forward  and  puckered,  and 
the  soft  palate  and  the  tongue  drawn  backward, 


The  ah  Sound 


The  ah  Sound — Side  The  AH  Sound — Front 

leaving  the  longest  and  narrowest  possible  open- 
ing from  front  to  rear.  The  aperture  between 
the  lips  is  small  and  rounded. 


TEE  ELEMENTS  OF  SPEECH 


23 


As  you  go  clown  the  ''scale" — oh,  aiv,  etc. — 
the  jaws  gradually  separate,  the  cheeks  relax,  and 


The  ay  Sound 


The  ay  Sound — Side 


The  ay  Sound — Front 


the  tongue  flattens,  until  at  ah  the  mouth  is  in 
its  widest  open  position  with  the  tongue  lying  flat 
and  inert  on  the  lower  jaw  and  the  soft  palate 
hanging  straight  down. 


24 


AMERICAN  SPEECH 


From   this   position   the   jaws    approach   each 
other  as  the  sounds  er,  uJi,  etc.,  are  made,  until 


The  EE  Sound 


The  EE  Sound— Side 


The  EE  Sound — Front 


at  ee  they  are  close  together;  the  lips  are  drawn 
tight  across  the  teeth,  as  in  a  smile;  the  cheeks 
pushed  apart  and  the  tongue  pushed  forward  and 


THE  ELEMENTS  OF  SPEECH  25 

lip,  making,  in  tlie  resonance  chamber,  the  flattest 
and  broadest  possible  cavity  through  which  a 
vowel  can  pass. 

One  cannot  make  the  sound  ee  w^ith  the  reso- 
nance chamber  and  the  lips  shaped  for  oo  or  for 
ah,  or  vice  versa.    Try  it  and  see. 

Repeat  this  ''scale"  of  vocal  sounds  down  and 
up  until  you  are  conscious  of  the  changes  in  ad- 
justment of  the  speech  organs  that  have  been 
described.  Try  to  associate  each  sound  with  its 
position,  and  to  remember  the  position.  Practice 
frequently  until  the  correct  habit  of  producing 
each  sound  is  fixed. 

18.  Exercise.  Repeat  the  sounds  oo — oh — ah 
— ay — ee. 

Make  these  sounds  slowly  at  first,  then  increase 
the  speed.  Keep  each  sound  separate  and  dis- 
tinct. Work  for  flexibility  in  the  speech  organs, 
particularly  in  the  jaws  and  lips. 

Practice  this  exercise  daily,  and  frequently  each 
day  until  each  sound  is  correctly  made  and  until 
the  muscular  action  is  rapid  and  accurate. 

19.  Exercise.  Repeat  in  the  same  way  the 
vowel  sounds  in  pairs,  in  the  order  given  in  the 
columns  below. 


00 00 

00  —  iih 

00  —  oh 

00  —  ay 

00  —  aw 

00  —  eh 

00  —  a 

00  —  i 

00  —  ah 

00  —  ee 

00  —  er 

26 


AMEBICAN  SPEECH 


20.  Exercise.  Repeat  in  the  same  way  the 
vowel  sounds  in  pairs,  in  the  order  given  in  the 
columns  below. 


ah  —  00 

ah  —  7ih 

ah  —  oh 

ah  —  ay 

ah  —  aw 

ah  —  eh 

ah  —  a 

ah  —  i 

ah  —  er 

ah  —  ee 

21.  Exercise.  Repeat  in  the  same  way  the 
vowel  sounds  in  pairs,  in  the  order  given  in  the 
columns  below. 


ee  —  00 

ee  —  er 

ee  —  oh 

ee  —  uh 

ee  —  aw 

ee  —  ay 

ee  —  a 

ee^eh 

ee  —  ah 

ee  —  i 

Quality  of  Tone 

As  yet  no  attention  has  been  given  to  the  qual- 
ity of  tone  produced  in  these  exercises.  Quality 
is  of  no  less  importance  than  accuracy,  and  an 
acceptable  quality  should  be  cultivated  from  the 
beginning. 

22.  What  qualities  should  a  voice  have? 
To  be  of  greatest  use,  a  voice  should  be  clear  and 
agreeable. 

23.  A  voice  should  be  clear.  No  voice  is  use- 
ful or  pleasant  to  listen  to  unless  it  is  clear.  A 
clear  voice  is  free  from  obstruction  of  all  sorts. 
A  voice  may  be  obstructed  in  various  ways:  by 


TEE  ELEMENTS  OF  SPEECH  27 

throat  contraction,  by  nasality,  by  a  stiff  tongue, 
by  rigid  jaws,  by  set  li})s,  and  by  breatliiness. 

24.  Throat  contraction.  When  the  mouth  is 
open  for  speech  or  song,  the  jaw  should  drop 
largely  of  its  own  w^eight  as  it  does  in  a  yawn. 
No  great  muscular  effort  should  be  made  to 
pull  it  down.  Such  effort  is  one  of  the  most 
common  forms  of  throat  contraction.  Speaking 
in  a  key  above  or  below  the  normal  pitch  of  the 
voice  is  another  source  of  throat  contraction.  Do 
not  strain  the  voice  beyond  its  proper  range. 
Speaking  louder  than  is  natural  is  a  third  source 
of  throat  strain,  especially  when  the  voice  is 
pitched  too  high.  EegTilate  the  volume  of  your 
voice  to  your  vocal  capacity.  Faulty  practice, 
tight  collars,  nervousness,  embarrassment,  and 
other  minor  matters  may  contribute  to  a  tightened 
throat  and  the  resultant  throatiness  of  tone. 

Try  to  overcome  throat  contraction  by  the 
removal  of  its  cause,  whatever  that  may  be.  In 
practicing  the  exercises  think  to  keep  the  throat 
free  and  open  and  relaxed. 

25.  Nasality.  A  second  hindrance  to  clearness 
is  nasality.  Nasality  is  caused  by  an  abnormal 
physical  condition  or  by  faulty  handling  of  the 
palate.  The  palate  is  the  damper  (See  Fig.  TV.) 
which  determines  how  much  breath  or  tone  shall 
go  into  the  nose  and  how  much  into  the  mouth.  If 
the  muscles  controlling  the  palate  do  not  operate 
normally,  as  in  the  condition  of  partial  paralysis 
frequently  following  diphtheria,  the  palate  may 
be  allowed  to  hang  too  far  forward  and  thus  direct 


28  AMERICAN  SPEECH 

too  much  tone  into  the  nasal  cavity.  Any  nasal 
obstruction  may  likewise  produce  a  nasal  tone, — 
adenoids,  spurs,  cold  in  the  head.  Such  conditions 
reduce  clearness  and  should  be  remedied.  Absence 
of  muscular  dexterity  in  the  tongue,  jaws,  and  lips 
is  a  third  source  of  hindrance  to  clearness.  These 
organs  should  be  so  trained  that  they  do  not  offer 
undue  obstructions  to  vocal  sounds.  Learn  to 
open  the  jaws  and  to  speak  with  flexible  tongue  and 
lips.  Exercises  already  given  for  the  vowel  sounds 
will  aid  in  this.  So  will  later  exercises  for  con- 
sonantal sound. 

26.  Breathiness.  A  third  cause  of  obscurity  is 
breathiness.  When  a  clear  tone  is  produced  the 
edges  of  the  vocal  cords  are  close  together.  If  for 
any  reason  they  become  separated  while  a  tone  is 
being  produced,  too  much  breath  is  allowed  to 
escape  and  the  tone  is  breathy.  If  the  cords  are 
widely  apart  the  result  is  a  wiiisper.  To  correct 
such  a  tone  the  breath  must  be  controlled  so  that 
only  just  enough  air  is  forced  between  the  vocal 
cords  to  produce  the  tone  desired.  Intelligent 
effort  to  regulate  the  supply  of  forced  breath  will 
remove  the  breathy  quality  from  the  voice. 

While  the  exercises  prescribed  in  this  book  will 
help  to  produce  clearness  of  tone,  it  may  be  neces- 
sary at  the  beginning  to  obtain  the  help  of  a  com- 
petent teacher  of  the  voice,  for  here  imitation 
may  most  quickly  and  surely  induce  correct  tone 
formation. 

27.  A  voice  should  be  agreeable.  Sounds 
that     are    displeasing    or    offensive    should    be 


TBE  ELEMENTS  OF  SPEECH  29 

carefully  eliminated.  Some  of  these  are  the  nasal 
and  throaty  tones  already  mentioned ;  others  are 
shrill,  whining,  querulous,  thick,  muffled,  gruff, 
grunting,  etc.  The  voice  is,  and  should  be,  an 
index  of  the  personality  of  the  speaker;  it  is  al- 
ways so  considered  by  those  who  hear  it.  One 
should,  therefore,  eliminate  from  the  voice  those 
qualities  likely  to  impress  a  listener  disagreeably. 
If  one  does  not  wish  to  be  thought  a  fault-finder,  a 
scold,  a  dolt,  or  a  pig  he  should  not  talk  like  one. 
28.     Exercise  for  tone  quality. 

a.  Breathe  deeply. 

b.  Softly  hum  m-m-m  with  tlie  lips  closed. 
Try  not  to  make  the  tone  either  hard  or  nasal,  but 
let  it  vibrate  all  through  the  resonators.  If  prop- 
erly done  this  exercise  will  relax  the  muscles  used 
in  producing  the  voice  and  will  reduce  interfer- 
ence. The  humming  will  be  most  effective  if  it  is 
in  short,  quick  sounds,  rather  than  long,  sustained 
ones.  The  more  of  such  practice  of  humming  the 
better. 

c.  When  a  soft,  clear,  resonant  hum  (with  the 
lips  closed)  is  mastered,  let  the  lips  part  slightly. 
This  will  produce  the  sound  mee.  Practice  this 
sound  softly  at  first,  then  w4th  increasing  volume. 
Gradually  let  the  mouth  open  wider  so  that  the 
tones  i — ay — uh,  and  finally  ah  are  added. 

d.  With  the  ah  once  established,  the  work  of 
developing  the  voice  is  well  started.  Any  attempt 
to  force  a  beginning  from  a  contracted  ah  will 
only  bring  trouble  and  delay.  The  tone  must  be  a 
free  and  relaxed  one. 


30  AMEBICAN  SPEECH 

Note  :  Practically  all  voice  culture  begins  with 
an  open,  relaxed  ah  sound,  and  this  sound  must  be 
established  correctly.  The  reasons  are  apparent; 
it  is  the  widest,  freest  of  all  tones;  it  is  the  one 
first  uttered ;  it  is  common  to  all  languages ;  its 
position  is  between  the  elongated  open  oo  and  the 
flattened  ee.  It  is  not  difficult  to  work  from  the  ah 
position  to  any  other.  It  is  necessary,  therefore, 
to  know  how  to  make  the  ah  sound  well.  Practice 
the  exercise  for  it  frequently.  Sound  it  at  the  most 
comfortable  pitch,  softly  at  first,  and  in  the  freest, 
easiest  way  possible.  Keep  it  forward  out  of  the 
throat  and  down  out  of  the  nose,  and  do  not  ob- 
struct it  by  teeth  or  lips.  The  help  of  an  instructor 
may  be  necessary ;  if  so,  get  it.  It  will  be  hard  to 
go  forward  in  voice  work  until  you  can  make  a 
good  ah. 

29.  Exercise.  Having  established  an  ah  of 
satisfactory  quality  somewhere  in  the  middle 
voice,  say  at  a  below  middle  c  of  the  treble  scale, 
try  to  make  the  note  next  above  and  the  one  next 
below  in  the  same  position  and  with  the  same 
quality,  thus: 


^^^       m^=^^^- 


AH  AH  AH 

Use  plenty  of  breath.  Make  the  tones  slow, 
smooth,  steady,  and  uniform.  Let  one  note  slur 
into  the  next  with  little  change  except  in  pitch. 
Repeat  frequently. 


THE  ELEMENTS  OF  SPEECH 


31 


30.     Exercise.     This  exercise  is  to  be  done  in 
the  same  way  as  the  previous  one. 
Repeat  frequently. 


iA^aSj^ 


AH 


m 


* 


^=i: 


AH 


^y-s^-jj: 


31.  Exercise.  Continue  to  extend  the  range 
of  the  ah  up  and  down  the  scale  until  an  octave 
of  eight  full  notes  is  covered.    Practice  scales  and 


*^' 

_, — 

AH 

•    > 

— ^- 

AH 

M      1 

ft" 

— 1 0— 

~^ 1 

» 

-J-;*- 

4 

AH 

^=^'=^ 

^^ 

*- 

-A 1 

•     AH      • 

Twice  with  one  breath 


Three  times  with  one  breath 


arpeggios,  and  octaves,  using  the  ah  sound,  until 
it  can  be  produced  well  on  each  tone.  This  should 
be  a  daily  exercise. 

Eepeat  frequently. 

The  ah  sound  under  control,  the  next  step  will 
be  to  extend  the  practice  to  the  other  primary 
sounds. 


32 


AMERICAN  SPEECH 


32.  Exercise,  a.  Keeping  in  mind  the  clear, 
open,  forward  quality  of  the  aJi,  sound  alternately 
the  vowels  ah — oh — ah,  on  the  note  a. 

Eepeat  frequently. 


5 


AH 


OH 


AH 


OH 


AH 


b.  Do  the  same  with  ah  and  ay. 

c.  Do  the  same  with  ah  and  oo. 

d.  Do  the  same  with  ah  and  ee. 


33.     Exercise,    a.     Sound  the  notes  below,  alter- 
nating ah — oh — ah,  thus  : 


;i^ 


AH  OH  AH 


1= 


AH  OH  AH 


i 


i 


AH  OH  AH  OH  AH 


h.     Do  the  same  with  ah  and  ay. 

c.  Do  the  same  with  ah  and  oo. 

d.  Do  the  same  with  ah  and  ee. 

34.     Exercise,    a.     Sound  the'  notes  below,  alter- 
nating ah  and  oh,  thus: 


/^ 


■^ 


=1: 


AH  OH  AH  OH  AH 


m 


rf 


fcfr 


m^ 


AH  OH  AH  OH  AH 


* 


fe^=^--= 


AH  OH  AH  OH  AH  OH  AH  OH  AH 


TRE  ELEMENTS  OF  SPEECH  33 

h.     Do  the  same  with  ah  and  ay. 

c.  Do  the  same  with  ah  and  oo. 

d.  Do  tlie  same  with  ah  and  ee. 

35.     Exercise,    a.     Somid  the  notes  below,  alter- 
nating ali  and  oh,  thus : 

h.     Do  the  same  with  ah  and  ay. 

c.  Do  the  same  with  ah  and  oo, 

d.  Do  the  same  with  ah  and  ee. 


:-'-"-|t^=J= 


AH  OH  AH  OH  AH  OH  AH  OH   AH  OH  AH  OH  AH  OH  AH  OH 


^ 


l:^7 


-tr*- 


AH    OH    AH    OH    AH    OH     AH  AH    OH    AH 


Note  :  It  will  be  helpful  when  practicing  these 
exercises  if  the  mental  and  emotional  attitude  of 
pupils  is  properly  directed.  If  the  pupil  is  alert, 
interested,  quick  to  respond  to  suggestion ;  and  if 
he  is  happy  and  enjoys  the  exercise — as  one  has  put 
it,  "if  there  is  a  cheery  smile"  in  the  tones — the 
value  of  these  exercises  will  be  tripled.  The 
teacher  should  use  the  utmost  tact  and  patience 
and  skill  to  make  the  practice  a  happy  one.  If  the 
teacher  or  pupils  rebel  against  the  w^ork  or  are  in- 
different to  it,  the  greater  part  of  its  value  is  lost. 

36.  Mixed  vowel  sounds.  Without  giving  fur^ 
ther  attention  for  the  present  to  tone  quality,  let 
us  examine  the  other  unobstructed  elements  of  our 
speech,  namely  the  Mixed  Vowel  Sounds. 


34  AMERICAN  SPEECH 

Recall  first  the  Primary  Vowel  Sounds: 

1.  00  as  in  fool        5.  a  as  in  fat  9.  ay  as  in  fate 

2.  00  as  in  /ooi        6.  ah  as  in  fatherlO.  eh  as  in  ^/le?;, 

3.  o/i  as  in  hlow      7.  er  as  in  her       11,  i  as  in  hit 

4.  aw  as  in  saw       8.  «/i  as  in  up       12.  ee  as  in  heet 

If  the  exercises  have  been  done  carefully,  it  will 
have  been  noticed  that  when  any  one  of  these 
sounds  is  made  the  organs  of  speech  take  a  definite 
position  and  maintain  it  without  change  until  the 
next  sound  is  made.  Any  change  in  the  position 
of  the  organs  of  speech  changes  the  vowel ;  this  is 
why  these  vowels  are  called  primary  or  single. 
In  the  exercises  described  every  effort  should  be 
made  to  avoid  changing  the  vowel  while  it  is  being 
sounded. 

37.  How  mixed  vowel  sounds  are  made.  In 
some  vowel  sounds  it  is  necessary  to  change  the 
position  of  the  organs  of  speech  from  the  position 
of  one  primary  sound  to  that  of  another.  Vowels 
so  produced  are  said  to  be  mixed  or  secondary. 
Those  made  by  one  shifting  are: 

13.  ew  as  in  few  =  ee   (feet)       and  oo  (fool)  blended 

14.  ai  as  in  high  =  ah  (father)  and  i  (bit)     blended 

15.  ow  as  in  noiv  =  «/;    (father)  and  oo  (fool)  blended 

16.  oy  as  in  hoy  =  aw  (saw)       and  i  (bit)     blended 

In  each  of  these  mixed  vowel  sounds  one  of  its 
component  sounds  does  and  should  predominate. 
Thus:  in  few  the  ee  is  very  brief,  and  the  oo 
prolonged.  In  high  the  ah  is  long  and  the  i  very 
short.  In  noiv  and  hoy,  the  first  element  is  long 
and  the  second  short. 


TRE  ELEMENTS  OF  SPEECH  35 

38.  ■  Errors  in  mixed  vocal  sounds.  Because 
of  ignorance  or  carelessness  many  errors  creep 
into  the  American  speech  through  improper 
handling  of  mixed  vowels.  These  errors  are  of 
four  kinds. 

(1)  Omitting  one  of  the  vowel  eleinents.  For 
example,  new  is  frequently  pronounced  }ioo,  the 
position  of  ee  being  omitted. 

(2)  Making  a  short  vowel  element  long.  For 
example,  mine  is  sometimes  pronounced  mah-een 
as  if  it  had  two  syllables. 

(3)  TTsing  a  wrong  sound  for  one  element.  For 
example,  coiv,  in  some  rural  sections,  is  pronounced 
csL-oo,  instead  of  cah-oo. 

(4)  Separating  vowel  elements  instead  of 
blending  them  quickly.  This  is  heard  in  certain 
drawling  dialect  like,  Yoo-er  ha-er  is  brah-oon. 

It  is  essential,  therefore,  that  the  pupil  first 
learn  how  to  make  all  the  primary  sounds  cor- 
rectly, second  wliat  primary  sounds  are  used  in 
each  mixed  sound,  and  third  which  sound  is  short 
and  which  long. 

39.  Exercise.     Pronounce. 

13.  eiv  14.  ai  15.  ow  16.  oy 


few 

kind 

down 

toil 

cue 

guile 

shout 

boy 

duke 

sky 

howl 

loin 

fume 

quite 

mound 

soil 

tune 

lie 

cloud 

coin 

Care  should  be  exercised  not  to  separate  the 
primary  sounds  in  these  words.     They  should  be 


36  AMERICAN  SPEECH 

blended  so  as  to  produce,  in  effect,  a  single  mixed 
sound,  not  separate  sounds. 

In  these  sixteen  sounds  are  all  the  necessary 
vowel  elements  for  learning  American  speech. 
These  should  be  practiced  alone  and  in  relation  to 
each  other  until  each  can  be  uttered  correctly. 

40.  How  vowel  sounds  are  spelled.  The  vowel 
sounds  of  American  speech  are  spelled  in  a  vast 
variety  of  ways,  and  these  ways  must  be  learned. 
It  is  not  best  to  attempt  to  learn  all  the  spellings 
of  a  sound  when  one  is  beginning  to  learn  the 
language.  Learn  the  sounds  themselves  first,  then 
let  the  recognition  of  the  various  written  forms 
grow  gradually. 

41.  Here  are  some  of  the  common  forms  that 
each  sound  takes.  The  list  is  not  exhaustive. 
Pronounce : 

1.  00  —  fool,  wound,  tomb,  fruit,  rheumatism,  through, 

shoe. 

2.  00  —  foot,  put,  could,  woman. 

3.  oh  —  blow,  bone,  goat,  soul,  owe,  foe,  sew,  though, 

oh,  beau,  yeoman. 

4.  aw — saw,  sauce,  fall,  cloth,  caught,  cougli,  broad, 

orb. 

5.  a   — fat,  plaid,  guarantee,  wear. 

6.  ah  —  father,  hurrah,  boa. 

7.  er — her,    fur,    sir,    were,    word,    journey,    earth, 

myrtle,  colonel. 

8.  uh  —  up,  son,  touch,  flood,  does. 

9.  ay  —  fate,  gain,  pay,  vein,  they,  great,  gaol,  gauge, 

aye,  weigh,  straight. 
10.  eh  —  them,   head,  any,  bury,   said,   heifer,  leopard, 
guess,  says. 


THE  ELEMENTS  OF  SPEECH  37 

11.  i — bit,  hymn,  pretty,  England,  busy,  sieve,  breeches, 

build.  • 

12.  ee  —  beat,  heat,  scene,  ceiling,  niece,  machine,  peo- 

ple, key,  mosquito,  quay,  vehicle. 

13.  ew — few,  tune,  due,  suit,  feud,  yule,  you,  lieu,  view, 

beauty,  ewe. 

14.  ai  —  high,  kind,  try,  tie,  dye,  sign,  sigh,  guide,  buy, 

aisle,  eye. 

15.  ow — now,  doubt,  bough. 

16.  oy  —  boy.  coin,  quoit,  buoy. 

42.     Mixed  vowels  with  r. 

a.  In  addition  to  the  vowel  sounds  described, 
there  are  several  which  are  found  in  com])ination 
with  the  consonant  r.    They  are : 

Diphthongs — 

ear  (fear)='i     (bit)      -\- cr  (her) 

air  (hair)==fl     (fat)      +  rr  (her) 

oor  (poor)  ^00  (foot)    -f  f /•  (her) 

oar  (boar)=o/i  (blow)  -\- er  (her) 

Tripthongs 

lire   (cure)  =i        (bit)  -\- oo  (foot)  -}- cr  (her) 

our  (hour)=«/(     (father)    +  oo  (foot) -f  cr  (her) 
ire    (fire)    =a/?     (father)    -\- i     (bit)    +er(her) 

b.  It  will  be  seen  that  the  effect  of  the  terminal 
r  sound  is  to  add  another  vowel  (er)  to  the  one 
preceding  it.  Thus  the  word  ear  is  made  up  of  the 
sound  i  (bit)  and  er  blended;  hair  is  a  and  er;  and 
so  on. 

c.  In  the  tripthongs  tw^o  vo^vels  are  blended 

4-  2-.0^S 


38  AMERICAN  SPEECH 

and  followed  by  the  same  er  sound.  Thus 
cure  is  i  (bit)  and  oo  blended  aftd  er  added  to 
that  J  our  is  ah  and  oo  blended  and  er  added;  fire 
is  ah  and  i  blended  and  er  added. 

d.  Just  how  much  value  shall  be  given  to  the 
terminal  r  is  a  matter  of  endless  dispute.  Opin- 
ions differ  vastly.  One  extreme  opinion  holds  that 
the  terminal  r  should  disappear  altogether,  and 
that  fear  should  be  pronounced  fee-ah;  hair, 
ha-ah;  etc.  Those  on  the  other  extreme  hold  that 
the  final  r  should  be  clearly  rolled  or  trilled,  as  the 
case  may  be ;  and  that  fear  should  be  pronounced 
fear-r-r;  hair,  hair-r-r. 

e.  It  is  the  belief  of  the  writer  that  the  truth 
lies  between  these  two  extremes.  While  it  is  true 
that  most  English  people  neglect  or  altogether 
omit  the  final  /,,  and  many  Americans,  particu- 
larly those  of  the  upper  classes  in  our  large  cities, 
contrive  to  forget  it,  it  is  nevertheless  true  that 
the  vast  majority  of  the  educated  men  and  women 
in  America  who  are  simple  and  unaffected  do  re- 
tain a  distinct  trace  of  the  terminal  r.  The  writer 
is  reluctant  to  believe  that  we  are  ready  to  dis- 
pense with  this  useful  sound. 

The  same  can  be  said  of  the  r  which  occurs 
in  the  middle  of  a  word.  Take,  for  example,  the 
word  ''farmer."  It  is  pronounced  fah.meh  by 
some,  fahmer  by  some,  and  farmer  by  some,  and 
occasionally  one  goes  so  far  as  to  say  farrmerr. 
It  seems  that  the  best  practice  is  to  retain  both 
sounds,  but  to  soften  them  so  that  they  are  not 
harsh  and  offensive. 


THE  ELEMENTS  OF  SPEECH  39 

/.  The  retention  of  the  r  within  a  word  or  at 
its  end  is  sometimes  the  only  way  of  differentiat- 
ing it  from  another  similar  word.  The  lack  of  an 
r  is  felt  by  many  to  be  nothing-  more  than  affecta- 
tion. For  these  and  other  reasons  it  seems  unwise 
to  discard  the  r.  The  time  may  come  when  this 
most  difficult  sound  will  disappear  from  the 
American  speech.  For  the  present,  however,  let 
us  be  satisfied  to  modify  it — not  eliminate  it. 

/7.  This  discussion  has  nothing  to  do  with  the 
initial  r.  That  will  be  considered  with  other 
consonants. 

Consonant  Sounds 

43.  Definition.  As  the  etymology  of  the  word 
indicates,  a  consonant  sound  is  a  sound  made 
with  and  by  the  help  of  another  sound.  The  other 
sound  is,  of  course,  a  vowel.  Consonants  are 
formed  by  obstructing  or  stopping  vowels 
with  some  of  the  speech  organs.  If  instead  of  let- 
ting a  vowel  out  naturally  through  the  mouth,  the 
lips  are  closed  and  the  sound  is  turned  up  through 
the  nose,  the  nasal  consonant  m  is  formed.  If  the 
tongue  and  palate  are  used  to  turn  the  sound  into 
the  nose,  the  sound  7i  or  nrj  is  formed.  If  the 
palate  slightly  back  of  the  teeth  and  the  base  of 
the  tongue  impede  the  vowel,  a  guttural  consonant 
is  formed — //,  k,  y,  q,  etc.  If  the  tongiie  is  used 
against  the  hard  palate  to  modify  the  vowel  a 
lingual  consonant  is  formed — /,  r.  If  the  vowel  is 
restricted    or   stopped   by   pressing   the    tongue 


40  AMERICAN  SPEECH 

against  the  teeth,  a  dental  consonant  is  formed — 
t,  d,  s,  etc.  If  the  lips  check  or  stop  a  vowel  a 
labial  consonant  is  formed — p,  h,  f,  v,  wh,  w,  m. 

44.  Classification.  Thus  it  will  be  seen  that 
not  all  consonant  sounds  in  words  can  properly 
be  prolonged,  as  vowel  sounds  are.  Hence  the 
following  classifications  of  consonants : 

a.  Stops — I),  h,  t,  d,  k,  g,  c  (hard),  ch  (hard), 
q  and  x. 

h.  Continuants — wh,  w,  f,  v,  tli  {aoit),  th  (hard), 
s,  z,  sh,  zli,  y,  m,  n,  ng,  I,  and  r,  ch  (soft),  and  j. 

45.  Pairs  of  Consonants.  Several  consonants 
arrange  themselves  naturally  in  pairs — 

p   b 

f V 

wh  w 

t d 

fh    (hard) th  (soft) 

s z 

sh    zh 

ch   (soft) j 

k    g  (hard) 

In  making  the  two  sounds  in  any  pair  the  same 
organs  of  speech  are  used,  and  these  organs  are 
used  in  the  same  way,  except  that  the  first  named 
of  each  pair  is  merely  a  blowing  sound,  whereas 
the  second  is  a  murmur.  The  first  are  called  surds, 
the  second  sonants. 

46.  Exercise.  Pronounce  the  following,  first 
surd,  then  sonant;  give  each  consonant  sound  an 
exaggerated  distinctness. 


TRE  ELEMENTS  OF  SPEECH 


41 


Surds 

Sonants 

pop 

bob 

fear 

—  veer 

tight 

—  died 

wheel 

—  weal 

thin 

—  this 

sis 

—  ziz 

ashen 

— ^  azure 

church 

judge 

kick 

—  gig 

The  sharp,  explosive,  forward  sound  of  the 
surds  is  distinctly  different  from  the  dull,  rum- 
bling, throaty  sounds  of  the  sonants. 

47.  Table.  The  following  table  (Bell's)  shows 
at  a  glance  the  character  of  each  consonant  sound 
and  the  organs  used  in  making  it: 


Lips 

Lips  and  Teeth 

Tongue  and  Teeth 

Tongue  and  Hard  Palate 

forward 

Tongue  and  Hard  Palate 

back  

Tongue,  Hard  Palate,  and 

Soft   Palate 

Tongue  and  Soft  Palate. 
Aspirate 


STOPS 

A. 


Surds 
P 


T 
CH 


K 


Sonants 
B 


D 
J 


G 


CONTINUANTS 


Surds 

WH 

F 

TH 

S 

SH 


H 


Sonants 

W 

V 

DH 

Z,  E,  L 

ZH,  R 

Y 


NASALS 

(Con.) 

Sonants 

M 


N 


NG 


48.    Labials. 

L.       wli    is  made  by  pushing  the  lips  forward 
and  rounding  them  into  a  small  opening 
through  which  the  aspirant  h  and  the 
vowel  are  blown. 
Pronounce  where,  when,  why. 


42 
2. 


AMERICAN  SPEECH 


w      is  made  in  the  same  way  as  ivJi  except 
that  the  aspirant  h  is  lacking  and  the 
throat  murmur  is  added. 
Pronounce  ive,  want,  will. 


The  W  Sound 


The  W  Sound— Side 


The  W  Sound — Front 


TEE  ELEMENTS  OF  SPEECH 


43 


/ 


is   a   soft   hissing   sound  between   the 
lower  lip  and  the  npper  teeth. 
Pronounce  fit,  fifty,  fife. 


The  F  Sound 


The  F  Sound— Side 


The  F  Solxd— Front 


V       is  a  hard  murmiired  hissing  between  the 
lower  lip  and  the  teeth.    It  is  the  same 
as  /  with  a  throat  murmur  added. 
Pronounce  vim,  vivid,  verve. 


44 
5. 


AMEBICAIi  SPEECH 


p       is  a  soft  puffing  sound  through  the  lips. 
Pronounce  pup,  papa,  peep. 


The  P  Sound — Side 


The  P  Sound — Front 


6.  h       is    a    hard    murmured    puffing    sound 

through  the  lips.     It  is  the  same  as  p 
with  a  throat  murmur  added. 
Pronounce  hob,  bobbin,  bib. 

7.  m      is  both  a  labial  and  a  nasal.    It  is  made 

by   closing   the    lips    and   turning   tlie 
sound  into  the  nasal  cavity.    Like  b  it 
also  has  the  throat  murmur. 
Pronounce  my,  mamma,  mum. 
49.    Dentals. 
1.       t       is  a  soft  explosive  sound  produced  by 
thrusting  the  tip  of  the  tongue  lightly 
against  the  hard  palate  just  above  the 
front  teeth,  and  then  suddenly  blowing 


TEE  ELEMENTS  OF  SPEECH 


45 


it   away,    letting    the    sound    rush    out 
under  the  upper  teeth. 
Pronounce  tot,  tatter,  taut. 


The  T  Sound 

d       is  the  same  as  t  with  a  lliroat  murmur 

added. 

Pronounce  dad,  added,  did. 
s       is  a  soft  hissing  sound  made  by  holding 

the  tip  of  the  tongue  close  to  the  hard 


The  S  Sound 


palate  above  the  front  teeth,  and  blow- 
ing out  softly  between  them. 
Pronounce  sit,  sister,  sis. 


46 


AMERICAN  SPEECH 


4.  z       is  tlie  same  as  s  with  a  throat  murmur 

added. 

Pronounce  zest,  huzza,  buzz. 

5.  th  (soft)  is  a  soft  blowing  sound  made  by  hold- 

ing the  tip  of  the  tongue  close  to  the 
lower  edge  of  the  upper  teeth,  and  f orc- 


The  th  Sound 


The  th  Sound— Side 


The  th  Sound — Front 


TEE  ELEMENTS  OF  SPEECH 


47 


ing  the  air  out  between  the  tongue  and 

the  teeth. 

Pronounce  tJiin,  smithy,  death. 

6.  th  (hard)  is  the  same  as  th  (soft)  with  a  throat 

murmur  added. 

Pronounce  this,  father,  smooth. 

7.  sh  ( soft)  is  a  soft  blowing  sound  made  by  draw- 

ing back  the  tongue,  raising  the  center 
of  it  until  it  is  close  to  the  back  of  the 
hard  palate,  and  blowing  the  sound  out 
over  the  tongue. 
Pronounce  sheet,  passion,  push. 


The  sh  Sound 


8.  eh  is   the   same  as  sli    (soft)    with  a  throat 

murmur  added. 

Pronounce  pleasure,  treasure,  azure. 

9.  ch  (soft)  is  a  soft  explosive  sound  made  by  flat- 

tening   the    tongue    against    the    hard 
palate,  and  suddenly  blowing  the  air 
out  between  them. 
Pronounce  chin,  teacher,  church. 


48 


AMERICAN  SPEECH 


The  CH  (soft)  Sound 

10,  j  is  the  same  as  cli  with  a  throat  mumnir 
added. 

Pronounce  joy,  injure,  judge. 
50.    Linguals. 
1.  Z  is   a   soft   liquid   murmur   made   by  press- 
ing the  tip  of  the  tongue  against  the 


The  L  Sound 


hard  palate  and  letting  the  sound 
escape  at  the  two  sides  of  the  tongue. 
Pronounce  life,  lily,  lull. 


THE  ELEMENTS  OF  SPEECH 


49 


The  L  Sound — Side 


The  L  Sound — Front 


2.  r  is  made  by  pressing  tlie  edges  of  the 
tongue  against  the  upper  double  teeth 
on  either  side  and  holding  the  tip  of 
the  tongue  close  to  the  hard  palate,  let- 
ting the  sound  out  over  it. 
Pronounce  rend,  terror',  rear. 


The  R  Sound 


50 


AMERICAN  SPEECH 


51.     Palatals. 

1.  A;  is  a  soft  explosive  sound  made  by  press- 
ing the  back  of  the  tongue  against  the 
soft  palate  and  suddenly  blowing  them 
apart. 
Pronounce  key,  flicker,  kick. 


The  K  Sound 


2.  g  (hard)  is  the  same  as  k  with  a  throat  murmur 
added. 
Pronounce  gun,  ragged,  gag. 


The  Y  Sound 


TEE  ELEMENTS  OF  SPEECH 


51 


3.  y  is  made  by  curving  the  center  of  the  tongue 

up  against  the  hard  palate  and  letting 
the  sound  out  over  the  tongue.  Pro- 
nounce you,  young,  beyond. 

4.  q  is  a  combination  of  A-  and  w.     It  is  made 

by  sounding  a  k,  with  the  lips  in  the 

position  for  a  w. 

Pronounce  quick,  queer,  bequeath. 

5.  ic  is  a  combination  of  k  and  5.     It  is  made 

by  sounding  a   k  and  shifting  quickly 
to  the  5  position,  so  that  the  two  sounds 
almost  blend. 
Pronounce  extra,  inexact,  convex. 

52.     Nasals. 

1.  m  see  )h  under  Labials. 

2.  n   is   a  soft  singing  sound  made  by  closing 

the  mouth  cavity  with  tliQ  sides  and  tip 
of  the  tongue,  and  turning  the  sound 
into  the  nasal  cavity. 
Pronounce  near,  unknoivn,  noon. 


The  N  Sound 


52  AMEBICAN  SPEECH 

3.  ng  is  made  by  closing  the  mouth  cavity  with 
the  back  of  the  tongue  and  tlie  soft 
palate,  and  turning  the  sound  into  the 
nasal  cavity.  This  is  really  a  second 
sound  of  n  and  not  a  g  sound. 
Pronounce  flung,  singing,  rang. 

The  Spelling  of  Consonant  Sounds 

53.     Here  are  some  of  the  common  forms  which 
the  consonant  sounds  take.    Pronounce: 

wh  whistle. 

w  we,  sgware,  okoir,  one. 

f  fix,     sti#,     physics,     tough,     calf,     soften, 

sapphire,  dipMheria. 
V  vast,  helve,  halve,  of,  nephew. 

p  pet,  steppe,  happy,  hiccoufir/i. 

h  bet,  ple&e,  ehh,  cup&oard. 

m  met,  summer,  phlegrm,  psa^m,  jamb,  hymn, 

programme,  drachm. 
t  tip,  bi^^er,  Y>ressed,  thyme,  two,  debt,  indict, 

receipt,  yacht,  waste. 
d  deal,  add,  love^,  horde,  shonld. 

s  see,  hless,  puke,  waits:,  dance,  cea^e,  scene, 

coalesce,   schism,    sword,    listen,    is^/imus, 

psalm,  distress. 
z  zeal,    di^sy,    frieze,    his,    scissors,    cleanse, 

discern,  csar,  business,  venison,  beaux. 
th  (soft)        thin,  eighth,  hreath. 
th  (hard)      this,  hreathe,  soothe. 
sh  sheet,  sugar,  c/iaise,  assure,  official,  vitiate, 

fasMon,  Asia,  social,  ocean,  conscience,  mo- 
tion, fuchsia,  pshaw. 


THE  ELEMENTS  OF  SPEECH  53 

zh  azure,  measure,  glazier,  diversion,  rougre. 

ch  (soft)        church,    ditch,    niche,    luncAeon,    righteous, 

cello. 
j  just,  ^ist,  hinge,  adjure,  jud^e. 

I  little,     flannel,     musicaZ,     victuals,     iuliill, 

thist/e. 
r  roar,  rhetoric,  wrong,  merry,  corps. 

k  kick,  cow,  havoc,  scone,  shacfc,  ache,  account, 

ligt<or,  barque,  walk,  viscount. 
g  (hard)  get,  egg,  ghost,  league, 

y  yes,    minion,    hallelujah,    civilian,    cotillon, 

canon. 
q  queer,  aegidesee,  quell. 

X  extra,  tacA;s,  havocs,  aches,  barques,  walks, 

n  not,  gnaw,  thi?iwer,  John,  /cnife,  p-zieumonia, 

Linco/»,  Wednesday,  bor?!e. 
ng  thing,  hand/cerchief,  tongue,  a?Jxious. 


CHAPTER  III 


SOUNDS  COMBINED  INTO  WORDS 

Having  learned  how  to  make  the  different 
sounds  of  the  language  alone,  we  should  next  learn 
how  to  make  them  combined  in  words. 

54.  Exercise.  Pronounce  accurately  the  fol- 
lowing  words  containing  double  consonant  sounds 
preceding  long  vowels: 

ee  ay  ah  oh  oo 

hi  bleed  blade  block  blow  bloom 

br  breed  brave  Brahma  brogue  broom 

dr  dream  dray  drop  drove  droop 

fl  fleet  flay  flock  floe  flume 

fr  free  fray  from  fro  fruit 

gl  gleam  glaze  gloss  glory  gloom 

gr  grieve  grade  grog  grove  groom 

kl  clean  clay  clock  cloak  cloot 

Jcr  cream  crave  crock  crow  croon 

kw  queen  quail  quad  quote  

pi  please  play  plaza  plume 

pr  preach  prate  prod    •  prone  prove 

sf  sphere  

shr  shriek  shrove  shrewd 

sk  skii  skate  scar  scope  scoot 

si  sleet  slate  slop  slope  sloop 

sm  smear  smock  smote  smooth 

sn  sneak  snake  snob  snow  snood 

sp  speed  spade  spar  spoke  spoon 

st  steed  staid  star  stone  stool 

54 


SOUNDS  COMBINED  INTO  WO  EDS 


55 


sw 

tr 

tiv 

thr 

ivJi 


sweep  sway  swan  swore 

treat  trait  trot  trope 

tweed  twain  twaddle  

three  Thrace  throb  throne 

wheeze  whey  what  whoa        whoop 


swoon 
troop 

through 


55.     Exercise.     Prono 

lowing  words  containing 

preceding  short  vowels: 

a 

black 

brand 

drab 


unce  accurately   the   fol- 
double  consonant  sounds 


U 
hr 
dr 
dw 

fl 
fr 

gi 

gr 
U 

kr 
kw 

pl 
pr 

sf 

shr 

sk 

sm 

sn 

sp 

st 

sw 

ir 

tw 

thr 

wh 


flap 

frank 

glass 

grass 

clam 

crash 

quack 

plant 

prance 

shrank 

scan 

smack 

snap 

span 

stamp 

swag 

tramp 

twang 

thrash 

whack 


e 
blend 
bread 
dread 
dwell 
fled 
fret 
glen 
Gretna 
cleft 
crest 
quench 
pledge 
press 
spherical 
shred 
sketch 
smelt 
snell 
sped 
step 
sweat 
trend 
twelve 
thread 


blink 

brisk 

drip 

dwindle 

flit 

frisk 

glint 

grip 

click 

crib 

quick 

plinth 

print 

sphinx 

shrift 

skit 

smith 

snip 

spill 

still 

swim 

trip 

twist 

thrill 

whip 


0  u 

block  blood 

broth  brusk 

drop  drub 


flop  flux 

from  front 

gloss  glove 

grog  grunt 

clog  club 

crop  crutch 

quad  

plod  plump 

prod  prussic 


shroff  shrub 

scott  skulk 

smock  smudge 

snob  snug 

spot  spun 

stop  stung 

swap  swum 

trot  truck 

throb  

what  


56 


AMEBICAN  SPEECH 


Difficult  Consonant  Endings 

56.  Exercise.  Pronounce  accurately  the  fol- 
lowing words  containing  difficult  consonant  end- 
ings: 

Labial  Combinations 


bd 

robed 

robbed 

ribbed 

rubbed 

hz 

babes 

bobs 

robes 

rubs 

ph 

lymph 

sylph 

Ralph 

pt 

kept 

capped 

hopped 

flipped 

pts 

crypts 

corrupts 

adepts 

adopts 

pth 

depth 

pths 

depths 

ps 

droops 

wraps 

hops 

cups 

pn 

open 

cheapen 

happen 

deepen 

fn 

often 

soften 

stiffen 

hyphen 

fs 

staffs 

cuffs 

chiefs 

hoofs 

ft 

lift 

laughed 

loft 

luffed 

fts 

shifts 

crafts 

lofts 

clefts 

fth 

fifth 

twelfth 

vd 

lived 

moved 

shoved 

dived 

vn 

even 

cloven 

sloven 

heaven 

vnz 

havens 

ovens 

heavens 

sevens 

vz 

leaves 

hives 

loaves 

caves 

57. 

Exercise. 

Dental  Combinations 

ts 

dots 

boats 

debts 

sheets 

tch 

ditch 

botch 

fetch 

catch 

tn 

button 

beaten 

bitten 

rotten 

tnz 

mittens 

muttons 

pattens 

threatens 

tl 

beetle 

prattle 

little 

shuttle 

tlz 

victuals 

bottles 

nettles 

scuttles 

SOUNDS  COMBINED  INTO  WOBDS 


57 


dz 

shreds 

clods 

herds 

hounds 

dst 

saidst 

amidst 

foundst 

lovedst 

dl 

straddle 

muddle 

middle 

girdle 

dls 

paddles 

fiddles 

wheedles 

noodles 

did 

fuddled 

saddled 

bridled 

coddled 

dth 

width 

breadth 

hundredth 

thousandth 

dths 

breadths  hundredths  thousandths 

th 

breath 

cloth 

wreath 

bath 

fh  (hard) 

breathe 

clothe 

wreathe 

bathe 

ths 

breaths 

smiths 

fourths 

broths 

ths  (hard) 

baths 

mouths 

clothes 

writhes 

thd 

clothed 

breathed 

writhed 

bathed 

sh 

dish 

wash 

mesh 

hush 

sn 

listen 

loosen 

lessen 

mason 

snz 

glistens 

fastens 

lessons 

loosens 

zn 

mizzen 

reason 

frozen 

chosen 

znz 

raisins 

dozens 

reasons 

cozens 

si 

thistle 

bustle 

muscle 

jostle 

sis 

bristles 

bustles 

muscles 

jostles 

zl 

fizzle 

easel 

hazel 

dazzle 

zlz 

fizzles 

easels 

puzzles 

dazzles 

St 

blast 

first 

moist 

blest 

sts 

feasts 

mists 

masts 

dusts 

zd 

hazed 

mused 

housed 

sized 

sp 

lisp 

clasp 

wasp 

hasp 

sps 

lisps 

clasps 

wasps 

hasps 

spt 

lisped 

clasped 

wisped 

hasped 

sk 

desk 

musk 

disc 

mosque 

sks 

asks 

desks 

discs 

masks 

zm 

prism 

chasm 

spasm 

schism 

ch 

leach 

coach 

much 

pouch 

gh 

fudge 

ridge 

sedge 

lodge 

cht 

bleached 

roached 

pitched 

botched 

ghd 

besieged 

raged 

gouged 

pledged 

58 


AMERICAN  SPEECH 


58.    Exercise. 

Lingual  Combinations 

Ip 

help 

whelp 

gulp 

scalp 

Ips 

helps 

whelps 

gulps 

scalps 

Ipt 

helped 

whelped 

gulped 

scalped 

Ih 

bulb 

lbs 

bulbs 

•   ••••• 

If 

self 

wolf 

golf 

pelf 

Iv 

solve 

delve 

helve 

twelve 

Ivz 

selves 

wolves 

solves 

delves 

It 

felt 

malt 

salt 

moult 

Its 

bolts 

gilts 

salts 

moults 

Id 

filled 

held 

rolled 

mailed 

Idz 

builds 

shields 

folds 

welds 

Ith 

filth 

health 

tilth 

wealth 

Iz 

dolls 

gulls 

calls 

isles 

Ig  (soft) 

bilge 

bulge 

•   ••••• 

Ikt 

milked 

sulked 

silked 

bulked 

Im 

helm 

film 

elm 

whelm 

Imz 

helms 

films 

elms 

whelms 

rp 

carp 

harp 

warp 

chirp 

rps 

carps 

harps 

Avarps 

corpse 

rpt 

carped 

harped 

warped 

chirped 

rb 

orb 

garb 

herb 

curb 

rbz 

orbs 

garbs 

"herbs 

curbs 

rbd 

orbed 

garbed 

disturbed 

curbed 

rf 

turf 

dwarf 

surf 

scarf 

rfs 

surfs 

turfs 

scarfs 

dwarfs 

TV 

serve 

starve 

carve 

nerve 

rvz 

serves 

starves 

carves 

nerves 

rm 

harm 

worm 

fa  ITU 

term 

rms 

harms 

worms 

farms 

terms 

rmd 

harmed 

warmed 

farmed 

termed 

.SOUNDS  COMBINED  INTO   IVOEDS 


59 


rt 

pert 

squirt 

quart 

art 

rts 

hurts 

courts 

tarts 

flirts 

rd 

cord 

sword 

curd 

cared 

rdz 

cards 

wards 

birds 

boards 

rth 

hearth 

forth 

dearth 

mirth 

rths 

hearths 

earths 

fourths 

firths 

rs 

farce 

fierce 

source 

curse 

rst 

forced 

pursed 

pierced 

parsed 

rz 

bars 

furze 

cores 

cures 

rsh 

harsh 

marsh 

rgh 

barge 

gorge 

urge 

forge 

rghd 

gorged 

urged 

forged 

charged 

rch 

torch 

birch 

larch 

porch 

rchd 

arched 

searched 

smirched 

perched 

rk 

fork 

quirk 

hark 

pork 

rks 

barks 

dirks 

parks 

forks 

rl 

whirl 

marl 

furl 

gnarl 

rlz 

curls 

pearls 

girls 

snarls 

rid 

whirled 

curled 

hurled 

snarled 

rldz 

worlds 

•        ... 

rn 

fern 

darn 

horn 

burn 

rnz 

warns 

earns 

barns 

corns 

rnd 

ironed 

learned 

corned 

turned 

59. 

Exercise. 

Pal./ 

"lTal  Combinations 

gd 

plugged 

flagged 

lagged 

leagued 

gz 

plagues 

brogues 

pigs 

legs 

gi 

dangle 

eagle 

wriggle 

bugle 

glz 

haggles 

giggles 

juggles 

beagles 

gld 

dangled 

wriggled 

bugled 

haggled 

hs 

tacks 

picks 

lacks 

chucks 

kt 

cracked 

bricked 

rocked 

ached 

60 


AMERICAN  SPEECH 


kts 

picts 

facts 

selects 

ejects 

kn 

waken 

taken 

sicken 

reckon 

knz 

likens 

weakens 

beckons 

slackens 

kl 

tickle 

tackle 

buckle 

trickle 

klz 

pickles 

tackles 

trickles 

buckles 

kid 

pickled 

buckled 

tickled 

tackled 

60. 

Exercise. 

Nasal  Combinations 

mp 

hemp 

scrimp 

lamp 

romp 

mps 

clumps 

limps     » 

cramps 

mumps 

mpt 

damped 

scrimped 

trumped 

limped 

mf 

lymph 

triumph 

mt 

dreamt 

•   ••••• 

md 

calmed 

thumbed 

stemmed 

dimmed 

mz 

films 

hums 

calms 

forms 

mst 

com'st 

harm  'st 

warm  'st 

tei*m  'st 

Tit 

quaint 

hunt 

lint 

plant 

nts 

paints 

hunts 

rants 

sprints 

nd 

bend 

frond 

mound 

tinned 

ndz 

lends 

sounds 

bonds 

wounds 

nth 

tenth 

ninth 

month 

seventh 

nths 

tenths 

ninths 

sevenths 

months 

ns 

jounce 

nonce 

mince 

lance 

nz 

pins 

hens 

banns 

crowns . 

nek 

inch 

ranch 

■  crunch 

hunch 

ncht 

wrenched 

flinched 

munched 

branched 

ng 

cling 

hung 

rang 

bring 

ngs 

flings 

bungs 

clangs 

lungs 

ng  (soft)    twinge 

lunge 

flange 

range 

ngd 

twinged 

hinged 

flanged 

ranged 

nk 

wink 

crank 

slunk 

monk 

nks 

links 

thanks 

trunks 

ranks 

nkt 

winked 

thanked 

bunked 

ranked 

SOUNDS  COMBINED  INTO  WORDS 


61 


FiKST  Syllables 

Many  errors  of  pronunciation  creep  into  the 
speech  through  improper  attention  to  first  syl- 
lables. Such  errors  are  usually  in  the  vowel 
sound.  A  as  an  initial  syllable  in  words  like  abate 
is  sometimes  wrongly  changed  to  uh. 

61.  Exercise. 
Pronounce 

abate  not  uhbate 
about  ' '  uhbout 
adorn  ' '  uhdorn 
agree  "  uhgree 
alert      ' '    uhlert 

62.  Exercise.  When  the  first  syllable  is  a 
single  a  followed  by  a  single  consonant,  the  a  is 
that  of  a  in  fat. 

Pronounce 


a (e) count     not    uheount 

nor 

acount 

a  (d)  dress 

uhdress 

adress 

a(f)fect 

'      uhfeet 

efect 

a  (g)  grieve      ' 

'      uhgrieve 

agrieve 

a(l)low           ' 

'      ulilow 

alow 

a(m)monia     ' 

'      uhmonia 

amonia 

a(n)noy 

'      uhnoy 

anoy 

a(p)pear        ' 

'      uhpear 

apear 

a (r) rest          ' 

'      uhrest 

arest 

a(s)sume        ' 

'      uhsuuie 

asume 

a(t)tach          ' 

'      uhtach 

atach 

63.  Exercise.  Be  as  a  first  syllable  has  the 
shortened  sound  of  ee.  It  should  not  be  elided 
nor  changed. 


62 


AMERICAN  SPEECH 


Pronounce 

be  cause 

not 

b'cuz 

nor 

bull  cause 

be  lieve 

( ( 

b 'lieve 

i  t 

bull  lieve 

be  come 

it 

b  'come 

C  i 

bull  come 

be  fore 

1 1 

b'fore 

<  ( 

bull  fore 

be  gin 

1 1 

b'gin 

( ( 

bull  gin 

64.  Exercise.  Co  as  a  first  syllable  usually  lias 
tlie  shortened  sound  of  oh.  When  co  with  a  conso- 
nant {cob,  cod,  etc.)  is  a  first  syllable,  the  o  has 
the  short  sound  of  ah. 

Pronounce 


CO  bra 

—  cob  bier 

CO  caine 

—  coc  cyx 

CO  dex 

—  cod  die 

CO  factor 

— eof  fin 

CO  gent    - 

—  cog  nate 

CO  Ion 

—  col  lar 

CO  ma 

—  com  ma 

CO  ni  fer 

— con  nect 

CO  ping    • 

—  cop  per 

CO  ro  na  - 

—  cor  0  ner 

CO  sine     - 

—  cos  set 

CO  ter  ie  - 

—  cot  tage 

65.     Exercise.     Z)e  as  a  first  syllable  has  the 
shortened  sound  of  ee. 
Pronounce 

de  bate  not   d'bate      nor  duh  bate 


de  cide 

( ( 

d'cide 

i  < 

duh  cide 

de  test 

( ( 

d'test 

(< 

duh  test 

de  fer 

<  i 

d'fer 

<< 

duh  fer 

de  gree 

1 1 

d  'gree 

<  ( 

duh  gree 

SOUNDS  COMBINED  INTO  WOEDS  63 

66.  Exercise.     De  and  des  should  not  be  con- 
fused. 

Pronounce 

de  sert  (verb)  — des  ert  (noun) 
de  sign  — des  ig  nate 

de  sire  —  des  per  ate 

de  scend  —  des  cant 

de  spair  —  des  pot 

67.  Exercise.     De  and  dlf  should  not  be  con- 
fused. 

Pronounce 

de  fer      — dif  fer 
de  form  — dif  fuse 
de  fy       —  dif  fi  cult 
de  fraud  —  dif  fract 

68.  Exercise.     De  and  dis  sliould  not  be  con- 
fused. 

Pronounce 

de  scend  —  dis  sect 
de  scent  —  dis  sent 
de  scribe  —  dis  suade 
de  stroy  —  dis  tract 
de  spise  —  dis  patch 

69.  Exercise.    Des  and  dis  should  not  be  con- 
fused. 

Pronounce 

des  ert         —  dis  sect 
des  ig  nate  —  dis  sent 
des  per  ate  —  dis  suade 
des  cant       —  dis  tract 
des  pot        —  dis  patch 


64  AMEBICAN  SPEECH 


70.     Exercise.    Ef  should  not  be  confused  with 

ee. 

Pronounce 

ef  feet 

not   ee  feet 

ef  face 

"     ee  face 

ef  front 

"     ee  front 

ef  fieient 

"      ee  fieient 

71.     Exercise.    En  should  not  be  confused  with 

ee. 

Pronounce 

en  noble  not  ee  noble 

72.     Exercise.    En  should  not  be  confused  with 

in. 

Pronounce 

en  gage 

not  in  gage 

en  sure 

"     in  sure 

en  .dow 

"     in  dow 

en  tail 

"     in  tail 

en  trance 

"     in  trance 

73.    Exercise.      Es 

should    not    be    confused 

with  is. 

Pronounce 

es  cape 

not  is  cape 

es  cort 

"     is  cort 

es  py 

"     ispy 

es  tate 

"     is  tate 

es  teem 

"      is  teem 

74.     Exercise.    Pre  and  per  should  not  be  con- 
fused. 

Pronounce 

pre  diet    not   per  diet 

pre  fer       '*     per  fer 


Also 


SOUNDS  COMBINED  INTO  WORDS  65 

pre  side      "     per  side 
pre  sume    "     per  sume 
pre  vent     "      per  vent 

per  form  not  pre  form 

per  haps       "  pre  haps 

per  mit         "  pre  mit 

per  plex       "  pre  plex 

per  tain       "  pre  tain 

75.     Exercise.    Po  and  pos  sliould  not  be  con- 
fused. 

Pronounce 

po  sition    not    pos  ition 


But 


pos  sess   not  po  sess 
pos  sessive  "  po  sessive 


76.  Exercise.    In  the  syllable  po  tlie  o  should 
not  be  dropped  before  an  I. 

Pronounce 

po  lice        not    plice 
po  lite  "     p'lite 

po  lit  ical    "     p'litical 

77.  Exercise.    Pro,  proh,  and  proc,  etc.,  should 
not  be  confused. 

Pronounce 

pro  bate     —  prob  lem 

pro  eeed     — proc  ess 

pro  pose     —  prop  er 

pro  pound — prop  erty 

pro  scribe  —  pros  ecute  -  ' 


66  AMERICAN  SPEECH 

78.  The  initial  h.  Althougli  h  is  used  and 
classified  as  a  consonant,  it  is  really  neither  a  con- 
sonant nor  a  vowel ;  it  is  virtually  a  rongli  breath- 
ing. In  words  like  he,  his,  him,  her,  etc.,  there  is 
little  difficulty  in  the  American  speech  with  the 
initial  h,  except  when  it  follows  a  sound  that  ab- 
sorbs the  breathing.  The  h  is  often  absorbed  after 
vowels ;  it  should  not  be. 

79.  Exercise.     Pronounce 


saw  him 

not   saw'im 

see  her 

"     see'r 

buy  him 

' '      buy  'im 

be  he 

"      be'ee 

80.  Exercise.  The  initial  h  should  be  distinctly 
sounded  especially  when  it  follows  a  word  ending 
with  a  consonant  sound. 

Pronounce 

took  his  not  took  'is 

heard  her  "  heard  'er 

dark  hair  "  dark   'air 

sweet  heart       "  swee  tart 

what  he  did     "  whatty  did 

The  safest  way  to  keep  the  7;  sound  in  such 
words  as  these  is  to  use  a  strong  and  separate 
stroke  of  the  diaphragm. 

81.  Exercise.  Tlio  faulty  habit  of  sounding  an 
r  after  words  that  end  with  a  vowel  sound  is  com- 
mon in  some  sections.  This  habit  can  be  easily 
cured  if  a  strong  h  (aspirate)  is  made  to  follow 
the  vowel. 


SOUNDS  COMBINED  INTO  WORDS 


67 


Pronounce 

saw  him 
law  office 
draw  a  glass 
papa 
mamma 
drama 


not  saw(r)im 

"  law  (r)  office 

"  draw(r)   a  glass 

' '  popper 

' '  mommer 

' '  drammer 


82.  Exercise.  In  the  wli  sound  the  h  is  often 
improperly  softened  or  dropped  altogether.  It 
should  be  blown  out  strongly  through  the  w.  In 
early  English  it  was  a  harsh  ch  and  was  pro- 
nounced almost  as  a  separate  syllable  before  the 
IV.    Now  the  w  and  h  are  made  at  the  same  time. 


Exercise 

Pronounce 

when 

jiot   wen 

where 

' '     ware 

white 

' '     wite 

while 

"      wile 

which 

"     wich 

Middle  Sounds 

83.  Exercise.  Careless  in'onunciation  of  dentals 
in  the  middle  of  two-syllable  words  that  end  in  a 
nasal  sometimes  causes  a  loss  of  the  final  syllable. 

Pronounce 

Lat  in         not  Lat'n 

momi  tain    "  mount 'n 

cer  tain         "  cert'n 

foun  tain      "  fount 'n 

cur  tain        "  curt'n 


68 


AMERICAN  SPEECH 


cap  tain       ' 

'      capt'n 

sex  ton         ' 

'      sext  'n 

sat  in            ' 

'      sat  'n 

Sa  tan          ' 

'      Sat'n 

mar  ten        ' 

'      mart  'n 

mat  in          ' 

'      mat'n 

mit  (t)en     ' 

'      mit  'n 

Note  :  This  applies  to  names  of  places  that  end 
in  ton.  Care  should  be  taken  in  pronouncing  them 
to  sound  the  medial  t  sharply. 

Bos  ton     not  Bos'n 

Gro  ton      ''  Grot'n 

Clin  ton     ''  Clint 'n 

Tren  ton    "  Trent 'n 


Final  Syllables 

84.     Exercise.     The  following  final  syllables  are 
often  carelessly  pronounced  ar,  er,  or: 
Pronounce 


al 
formal 
dismal 
final 
spinal 
modal 


ar 

er 

or 

attar 

alter 

captor 

secular 

fever 

donor 

angular 

miner 

metaphor 

regular 

lever 

censor 

calendar 

colander 

testator 

:ercise.    Pr 

onounce 

el 

il 

le 

jewel 

pencil 

stubble 

hovel 

civil 

trouble 

busliel 

fossil 

huddle 

vessel 

council 

middle 

model 

tonsil 

wobble 

SOUNDS  COMBINED  INTO  WORDS 


69 


86.     Exercise.     Pronounce 


ance 

abundance 
insurance 


ence 


dependence 
coherence 


87.     Exercise.     Pronounce 


nts 

confidants 

penitents 

consonants 

suppliants 

vigilants 


nee 

confidence 
penitence 
consonance  • 
suppliance 
vigilance 


88.     Exercise.     Pronounce 


89. 


ant 

ent 

gallant 

student 

tenant 

government 

tyrant 

judgment 

pliant 

penitent 

arrogant 

president 

Exercise.     Pronounce 

ed 

id 

wounded 

lurid 

hunted 

acid 

parted 

frigid 

hated 

acrid 

fitted 

squalid 

70 


AMEBICAN  SPEECH 


90.     Exercise.     Pronounce 


91. 


92. 


93. 


ess 

iss 

access 

premise 

fortress 

promise 

recess 

largess 

princess 

Exercise.     Pr 

onounce 

est 

ist 

ablest 

artist 

modest 

dentist 

interest 

organist 

youngest 

jurist 

harvest 

druggist 

Exercise.    Pr 

onounce 

et 

it 

faucet 

credit 

target 

permit 

velvet 

exit 

caret 

favorit(e) 

violet 

summit 

Exercise.    Pr 

onounce 

ard 

erd 

ord 

haggard 

lialberd 

record 

sluggard 

shepherd 

discord 

tankard 

coward 

landlord 

custard 

upward 

hai-psichord 

hazard 

forward 

concord 

SOUNDS  COMBINED  INTO  WORDS 


71 


94. 


Exercise.     Pronounce 

ert 

ort 

convert 

effort 

concert 

consort 

expert 

export 

overt 

comfort 

insert 

escort 

95.     Exercise.     There  are  a  number  of  common 
words  that  are  very  often  mispronounced. 
Pronounce 


of 

not  uv 

from 

frum 

was 

WTIZ 

for 

fer 

them 

thum 

can 

kin 

catch 

ketch 

and 

'un  nor  'nd 

because 

becuz 

history 

histry 

Hbraiy   . 

libry 

figure 

" 

figger 
govmnt 

government    < 

gummunt 

governmunt 

creek 

(( 

crick 

Februaiy 

<  i 

Febuary 

CHAPTER  IV 

WORDS  COMBINED  INTO  SENTENCES 

96.  Words  in  sentences.  Thus  far  only  the 
production  of  vocal  sounds  and  the  enunciation 
of  words  have  been  discussed.  Let  us  now  con- 
sider the  utterance  of  words  combined  into  sen- 
tences. 

Wlien  a  sentence  is  made,  the  words  in  it  are 
given  certain  definite  relations  to  each  other. 
Some  words  name  things  to  be  talked  about; 
others  make  statements;  others  modify;  others 
connect.  Some  sentences  make  statements ;  others 
ask  questions ;  others  express  exclamations.  Some 
sentences  are  to  be  taken  literally,  others  figura- 
tively. 

It  is  frequently  difficult,  sometimes  impossible, 
for  written  sentences  to  express  what  the  writer 
thinks  and  feels.  It  is  usually  possible  for  a 
speaker  to  express  exactly  what  he  thinks  and 
feels.  It  is  important,  therefore,  to  discover  if 
possible  how  to  make  oral  expression  interpret 
written  expression.  Oral  expression  more  accu- 
rately expresses  thought  and  feeling,  because  in 
addition  to  the  words  used  the  speaker  may  also 
use  a  variety  of  force,  of  rate,  of  pitch,  of  quality 
of  tone,  and  other  devices  that  appeal  to  the  ear. 
It  is  desirable  to  discuss  these  elements  and  their 
uses. 

72 


woeds  combined  into  sentences  73 

Vakiations  of  Speech 

FOECE 

97.  a.  Force  as  here  used  means  volume  of 
voice  in  reading  and  speaking.  It  may  range 
from  the  softest  whisper  to  the  loudest  shout. 
Force  varies  with  the  character  of  what  is  being 
read  or  spoken,  and  it  is  also  affected  by  external 
circumstances  and  surroundings.  The  amount  of 
voice  used  should  be  gauged  by  the  size  of  the 
room,  by  the  number  of  people  to  be  addressed, 
and  by  the  conditions  prevailing  when  the  speak- 
ing is  done. 

b.  As  a  general  rule  the  voice  should  be  just 
loud  enough  in  normal  passages  to  be  heard  com- 
fortably by  each  one  in  the  audience  if  he  listens 
attentively.  It  is  better  to  require  an  audience  to 
make  an  effort  to  hear  than  to  tire  its  ears  by  too 
loud  speaking.  Nothing  is  less  effective  or  more 
offensive  than  continual  shouting  when  there  is 
no  occasion  for  it;  and  by  the  same  token  it  is 
affected  and  effeminate  in  a  speaker  not  to  give 
strong,  vigorous  passages  in  full,  round,  ringing 
tones. 

c.  It  should  be  noted  that  force,  like  pitch,  is 
constantly  varying;  that  the  structural  words  in 
a  sentence  are  ordinarily  louder — or  softer — than 
the  words  of  less  importance;  that  certain  groups 
of  words  in  sentences  demand  more — or  less — 
voice;  that  certain  sentences  themselves  are  of 
such  a  nature  as  to  be  spoken  louder — or  softer — 
than  others  around  them. 


74  AMEEICAN  SPEECH 

d.  Common  sense  rationally  applied  will  usually 
be  sufficient  to  enable  a  speaker  to  determine  the 
right  amount  of  voice  to  use  in  any  passage  he 
may  be  reading  or  speaking.  The  following  exer- 
cises are  suggestive: 

98.  Exercises.  1.  Read  Fezziwig's  Ball  in 
Dickens'  Christmas  Carol. 

Old  Fezziwig's  Ball 

Note  :  In  these  suggested  readings  it  can  easily  be  seen  how  the 
voice  varies  in  volume  in  different  passages  and  in  different  parts  of 
the  same  passage  ;  from  the  noisy  hilarity  of  the  dancers  at  Fc:::ziicig's 
Ball  to  the  breathless  listening  of  My  Uncle  for  the  mysterious  foot- 
steps. 

' '  Yo  ho,  my  boys ! ' '  said  Fezziwig.  ' '  No  more  work 
tonight.  Christmas  Eve,  Dick.  Christmas,  Ebenezer! 
Let's  have  the  shutters  up,"  cried  old  Fezziwig,  with  a 
sharp  clap  of  his  hands,  "before  a  man  can  say  Jack 
Robinson ! ' ' 

You  wouldn't  believe  how  those  two  fellows  went  at 
it !  They  charged  into  the  street  with  the  shutters — 
one,  two,  three — had  'em  up  in  their  places — four,  five, 
six — barred  'em  and  pinned  'em — seven,  eight,  nine — 
and  came  back  before  you  could  have  got  to  twelve,  pant- 
ing like  race-horses. 

"Hilli-ho!"  cried  old  Fezziwig,  skipping  down  from 
the  high  desk,  with  wonderful  agility.  ' '  Clear  away,  my 
lads,  and  let's  have  lots  of  room  here!  Hilli-ho,  Dick! 
Chirrup,  Ebenezer ! ' ' 

Clear  away!  There  was  nothing  they  wouldn't  have 
cleared  away,  or  couldn't  have  cleared  away,  with  old 
Fezziwig  looking  on.  It  was  done  in  a  minute.  Every 
movable  was  packed  off,  as  if  it  were  dismissed  from 
public  life  for  everaiore;  the  floor  was  swept  and 
watered,  the  lamps  were  trimmed,  fuel  was  heaped  upon 


WOBDS  COMBINED  INTO  SENTENCES  75 

the  fire;  and  the  warehouse  was  as  snug,  and  warm, 
and  dry,  and  briglit  a  ball-room,  as  3'ou  would  desire 
to  see  upon  a  winter's  night. 

In  came  a  fiddler  with  a  music-book,  and  went  up  to 
the  lofty  desk,  and  made  an  orchestra  of  it,  and  tuned 
like  fifty  stomach-aches.  In  came  Mrs.  Fezziwig,  one 
vast  substantial  smile.  In  came  the  three  Miss  Fezzi- 
wigs,  beaming  and  lovable.  In  came  the  six  young  fol- 
lowers whose  hearts  they  broke.  In  came  all  the  young 
men  and  women  eihployed  in  the  business.  In  came  the 
housemaid,  with  her  cousin,  the  baker.  In  came  the  cook, 
with  her  brother's  particular  friend,  the  milkman.  In 
came  the  boy  from  over  the  way,  who  was  suspected 
of  not  having  board  enough  from  his  master;  trying  to 
hide  himself  behind  the  girl  from  next  door  but  one, 
who  was  proved  to  have  had  her  ears  pulled  by  her  mis- 
tress. In  they  all  came,  one  after  another;  some  shyly, 
some  boldly,  some  gracefully,  some  awkwardly,  some 
pushing,  some  pulling;  in  they  all  came,  anyhow  and 
everyhow.  Away  they  all  went,  twenty  couple  at  once, 
hands  half  round  and  back  again  the  other  way;  down 
the  middle  and  up  again ;  round  and  round  in  various 
stages  of  affectionate  grouping;  old  top  couple  always 
turning  up  in  the  wrong  place ;  new  top  couple  starting 
off  again,  as  soon  as  they  got  there;  all  top  couples  at 
last,  and  not  a  bottom  one  to  help  them.  When  this 
result  was  brought  about,  old  Fezziwig,  clapping  his 
hands  to  stop  the  dance,  cried  out,  "Well  done !"  and  the 
fiddler  plunged  his  hot  face  into  a  pot  of  porter,  espe- 
cially provided  for  that  purpose.  But  scorning  rest 
upon  his  reappearance,  he  instantly  began  again,  though 
there  were  no  dancers  yet,  as  if  the  other  fiddler  had 
been  carried  home,  exhausted,  on  a  shutter ;  and  he  were 
a  bran-new  man  resolved  to  beat  him  out  of  sight,  or 
perish. 


76  AMERICAN  SPEECH 

There  were  more  dances,  and  there  were  forfeits,  and 
more  dances,  and  there  was  cake,  and  there  was  negus, 
and  there  was  a  great  piece  of  Cold  Roast,  and  there 
was  a  great  piece  of  Cold  Boiled,  and  there  were  mince- 
pies,  and  plenty  of  beer.  But  the  great  effect  of  the 
evening  came  after  the  Roast  and  Boiled,  when  the 
fiddler  (an  artful  dog,  mind!  The  sort  of  man  who 
knew  his  business  better  than  you  or  I  could  have  told 
it  him!)  strack  up  ''Sir  Roger  de  Coverley."  Then  old 
Fezziwig  stood  out  to  dance  with  Mrs.  Fezziwig.  Top 
couple,  too ;  with  a  good  stiff  piece  of  work  cut  out  for 
them ;  three  or  four  and  twenty  pair  of  partners ;  people 
who  were  not  to  be  trifled  with  ;  people  who  would  dance, 
and  had  no  notion  of  walking. 

But  if  they  had  been  twice  as  many:  ah,  four  times: 
old  Fezziwig  would  have  been  a  match  for  them,  and 
so  would  Mrs.  Fezziwig.  As  to  her,  she  was  worthy  to 
be  his  partner  in  eveiy  sense  of  the  term.  If  that's  not 
high  praise,  tell  me  higher,  and  I'll  use  it.  A  positive 
light  appeared  to  issue  from  Fezziwig 's  calves.  They 
shone  in  every  part  of  the  dance  like  moons.  You 
couldn't  have  predicted,  at  any  given  time,  what  would 
become  of  'em  next.  And  when  old  Fezziwig  and  Mrs. 
Fezziwig  had  gone  all  through  the  dance ;  advance  and 
retire,  hold  hands  with  your  partner ;  bow  and  courtesy ; 
corkscrew;  thread-the-needle,  and  back  ggain  to  your 
place;  Fezziwig  "cut" — cut  so  deftly,  that  he  appeared 
to  wink  with  his  legs,  and  came  upon  his  feet  again 
without  a  stagger. 

When  the  clock  struck  eleven,  this  domestic  ball  broke 
up.  Mr.  and  INIrs.  Fezziwig  took  their  stations,  one  on 
either  side  the  door,  and  shaking  hands  with  every  per- 
son individually  as  he  or  she  went  out,  wished  him  or 
her  a  Merry  Christmas.  Wlien  everybody  had  retired 
but  the  two  'prentices,  they  did  the  same  to  them;  and 


WORDS  COMBINED  INTO  SENTENCES  77 

thus  the  cheerful  voices  died  away,  and  the  lads  were 
left  to  their  beds;  which  were  under  a  counter  in  the 
back-shop. 

2.  Read  Stave  v.  Dickens'  Christmas  Carol. 

The  End  of  It 

Yes!  and  the  bedpost  was  his  own.  The  bed  was  his 
own,  the  room  was  his  own.  Best  and  happiest  of  all,  the 
Time  before  him  was  his  own,  to  make  amends  in ! 

"I  will  live  in  the  Past,  the  Present,  and  the  Future !" 
Scrooge  repeated,  as  he  scrambled  out  of  bed.  "The 
Spirits  of  all  Three  shall  strive  within  me.  Oh  Jacob 
Marley!  Heaven,  and  the  Christmas  Time  be  praised 
for  this !    I  say  it  on  my  knees,  old  Jacob,  on  my  knees !" 

He  was  so  fluttered  and  so  glowing  with  his  good 
intentions,  tliat  his  broken  voice  would  scarcely  answer 
to  his  call.  He  had  been  sobbing  violently  in  his  conflict 
with  the  Spirit,  and  his  face  was  wet  with  tears. 

"They  are  not  torn  down,"  cried  Scrooge,  folding  one 
of  his  bed-curtains  in  his  arms,  ' '  they  are  not  torn  down, 
rings  and  all.  They  are  here :  I  am  here :  the  shadows 
of  the  things  that  would  have  been,  may  be  dispelled. 
They  will  be.    I  know  they  will ! ' ' 

His  hands  were  busy  witli  his  garments  all  this  time : 
turning  them  inside  out,  putting  them  on  upside  down, 
tearing  them,  mislaying  them,  making  them  parties  to 
every  kind  of  extravagance. 

"I  don't  know  what  to  do!"  cried  Scrooge,  laughing 
and  crying  in  the  same  breath ;  and  making  a  perfect 
Laocoon  of  himself  with  his  stockings.  "I  am  as  light 
as  a  feather,  I  am  as  happy  as  an  angel,  I  am  as  merry 
as  a  schoolboy.  I  am  as  giddy  as  a  drunken  man.  A 
Merry  Christmas  to  everybody !  A  Happy  New  Year 
to  all  the  world.    Hallo  here !  Whoop  !  Hallo ! ' ' 


78  AMERICAN  SPEECH 

He  had  frisked  into  the  sitting  room,  and  was  now 
standing  there :  perfectly  winded. 

' '  There 's  the  saucepan  that  the  gruel  was  in  ! "  cried 
Scrooge,  starting  off  again,  and  frisking  round  the  fire- 
place. "There's  the  door,  by  which  the  Ghost  of  Jacob 
Marley  entered !  There 's  the  corner  where  the  Ghost 
of  Christmas  Present  sat!  There's  the  window  where 
I  saw  the  wandering  Spirits!  It's  all  right,  it's  all 
true,  it  all  happened.     Ha,  ha,  ha!" 

Really,  for  a  man  who  had  been  out  of  practice  for  so 
many  years,  it  was  a  splendid  laugh,  a  most  illustrious 
laugh.  The  father  of  a  long,  long  line  of  brilliant 
laughs ! 

"I  don't  know  what  day  of  the  month  it  is!"  said 
Scrooge.  ' '  I  don 't  know  how  long  I  've  been  among  the 
Spirits.  I  don't  know  anything.  I'm  quite  a  baby. 
Never  mind.  I  don 't  care.  I  'd  rather  be  a  baby.  Hallo ! 
Whoop!  Hallo  here!" 

He  was  checked  in  his  transports  by  the  churches  ring- 
ing out  the  lustiest  peals  he  had  ever  heard.  Clash, 
clang,  hammer,  ding,  dong,  bells.  Bell,  dong,  ding,  ham- 
mer, clang,  clash.     Oh,  glorious,  glorious! 

Running  to  the  window,  he  opened  it,  and  put  out  his 
head.  No  fog,  no  mist;  clear,  bright,  jovial,  stirring, 
cold ;  cold,  piping  for  the  blood  to  dance  to ;  golden  sun- 
light; heavenly  sky;  sweet  fresh  air;  merry  bells.  Oh, 
glorious.    Glorious ! 

"What's  today?"  cried  Scrooge,  calling  downward  to 
a  boy  in  Sunday  clothes,  who  perhaps  had  loitered  in 
to  look  about  him. 

"  Eh  ?  "  returned  the  boy,  with  all  his  might  of  wonder. 

"What's  today,  my  fine  fellow?"  said  Scrooge. 

"Today!"  replied  the  boy.    "Why,  Christmas  Day." 

"It's  Christmas  Day!"  said  Scrooge  to  himself.  "I 
haven't  missed  it.     The  Spirits  have  done  it  all  in  one 


WORDS  COMBINED  INTO  SENTENCES  79 

night.  They  can  do  anything  they  like.  Of  course  they 
can.    Of  course  they  can.     Hallo,  my  fine  fellow?" 

"Hallo!"  returned  the  boy. 

"Do  you  know  the  Poulterer's,  in  the  next  street  but 
one,  at  the  corner?"  Scrooge  inquired. 

"I  should  hope  I  did,"  replied  the  lad. 

' '  An  intelligent  boy ! ' '  said  Scrooge.  ' '  A  remarkable 
boy!  Do  you  know  whether  they've  sold  the  prize  tur- 
key that  was  hanging  up  there?  Not  the  little  prize 
Turkey:  the  big  one?" 

"What,  the  one  as  big  as  me?"  returned  the  boy. 

"What  a  delightful  boy!"  said  Scrooge.  "It's  a 
pleasure  to  talk  to  him.     Yes,  my  buck!" 

"It's  hanging  there  now,"  replied  the  boy. 

"  Is  it  ? "  said  Scrooge.    ' '  Go  and  buy  it. ' ' 

"Walk-ER!"  exclaimed  the  boy. 

"No,  no,"  said  Scrooge,  "I  am  in  earnest.  Go  and 
buy  it,  and  tell  'em  to  bring  it  here,  that  I  may  give 
them  the  direction  where  to  take  it.  Come  back  with 
the  man,  and  I'll  give  you  a  shilling.  Come  back  with 
him  in  less  than  five  minutes,  and  I'll  give  you  half-a- 
crown ! ' ' 

The  boy  was  off  like  a  shot.  He  must  have  had  a 
steady  hand  at  a  trigger  who  could  have  got  a  shot  off 
half  so  fast. 

"I'll  send  it  to  Bob  Cratchit's!"  whispered  Scrooge, 
rubbing  his  hands,  and  splitting  with  a  laugh.  "He 
shan't  know  who  sends  it.  It's  twice  the  size  of  Tiny 
Tim.  Joe  Miller  never  made  such  a  joke  as  sending  it 
to  Bob's  will  be!" 

The  hand  in  which  he  wrote  the  address  was  not  a 
steady  one,  but  write  it  he  did,  somehow,  and  went  down 
stairs  to  open  the  street  door,  ready  for  the  coming  of 
the  poulterer's  man.  As  he  stood  there,  waiting  his 
arrival,  the  knocker  caught  his  eye. 


80  AMERICAN  SPEECH 

"I  shall  love  it,  as  long  as  I  live!"  cried  Scrooge,  pat- 
ting it  with  his  hand.  "I  scarcely  ever  looked  at  it 
before.  What  an  honest  expression  it  has  in  its  face ! 
It's  a  wonderful  knocker! — Here's  the  Turkey.  Hallo! 
Whoop  !    How  are  you !    Merry  Christmas ! ' ' 

It  was  a  Turkey !  He  could  never  have  stood  upon  his 
legs,  that  bird.  He  would  have  snapped  'em  short  off 
in  a  minute,  like  sticks  of  sealing-wax. 

''Why,  it's  impossible  to  carry  that  to  Camden  Town," 
said  Scrooge.    "You  must  have  a  cab." 

The  chuckle  with  which  he  said  this,  and  the  chuckle 
with  which  he  paid  for  the  turkey,  and  the  chuckle  with 
which  he  paid  for  the  cab,  and  the  chuckle  with  which  he 
recompensed  the  boy,  were  only  to  be  exceeded  by  the 
chuckle  with  which  he  sat  down  breathless  in  his  chair 
again,  and  chuckled  till  he  cried. 

Shaving  was  not  an  easy  task,  for  his  hand  continued 
to  shake  very  much  ;  and  shaving  requires  attention,  even 
when  you  don't  dance  while  you  are  at  it.  But  if  he  had 
cut  the  end  of  his  nose  off,  he  would  have  put  a  piece  of 
sticking-plaster  over  it,  and  been  quite  satisfied. 

He  dressed  himself  "all  in  his  best,"  and  at  last  got 
out  into  the  streets.  The  people  were  by  this  time  pour- 
ing forth,  as  he  had  seen  them  with  the  Ghost  and  Christ- 
mas Present;  and  walking  with  his  hands  behind  him, 
Scrooge  regarded  every  one  with  a  delighted  siiiile.  He 
looked  so  irresistibly  pleasant  in  a  word,  that  three  or 
four  good-humored  fellows  said,  "Good  morning.  Sir! 
A  Merry  Christmas  to  you!"  And  Scrooge  said  often 
afterwards,  that  of  all  the  blithe  sounds  he  had  ever 
heard,  those  were  the  blithest  in  his  ears. 

He  had  not  gone  far,  when  coming  on  toward  him  he 
beheld  the  portly  gentleman,  who  had  walked  into  his 
counting-house  the  day  before  and  said,  "Scrooge  and 
Marley's,  I  believe?"     It  sent  a  pang  across  his  heart 


WORDS  COMBINED  INTO  SENTENCES  $1 

to  think  how  this  old  gentleman  would  look  upon  him 
when  they  met;  but  he  knew  what  path  lay  straight 
before  him,  and  he  took  it. 

"My  dear  Sir,"  said  Scrooge,  quickening  his  pace, 
and  taking  the  old  gentleman  by  both  his  hands.  "How 
do  you  do?  I  hope  you  succeeded  yesterday.  It  was 
very  kind  of  you.    A  Merry  Christmas  to  you,  Sir ! ' ' 

"Mr.  Scrooge?" 

"Yes,"  said  Scrooge.  "That  is  my  name,  and  I  fear 
it  may  not  be  pleasant  to  you.  Allow  me  to  ask  your 
pardon.  And  will  you  have  the  goodness" — here  Scrooge 
whispered  in  his  ear. 

"Lord  bless  me!"  cried  the  gentleman,  as  if  his 
breath  were  gone.  "My  dear  Mr.  Scrooge,  aro  you 
serious  ? ' ' 

"If  you  please,"  said  Mr.  Scrooge.  "Not  a  farthing 
less.  A  great  many  back-payments  are  included  in  it, 
I  assure  you.     Will  you  do  me  that  favor?" 

"My  dear  Sir,"  said  the  other,  shaking  hands  with 
him.    "I  don't  know  what  to  say  to  such  munifi — " 

"Don't  say  anything,  please,"  retorted  Scrooge. 
"Come  and  see  me.    Will  you  come  and  see  me?" 

' '  I  wiU ! ' '  cried  the  old  gentleman.  And  it  was  clear 
he  meant  to  do  it. 

" Thank 'ee,"  said  Scrooge.  "I  am  much  obliged  to 
you.     I  thank  you  fifty  times.     Bless  you!" 

He  went  to  church,  and  walked  about  the  streets,  and 
watched  the  people  hurrying  to  and  fro,  and  patted 
children  on  the  head,  and  questioned  beggars,  and  looked 
down  into  the  kitchens  of  houses,  and  up  to  the  windows ; 
and  found  that  everything  could  yield  him  pleasure.  He 
had  never  dreamed  that  any  walk — that  anything — 
could  give  him  so  much  happiness.  In  the  afternoon,  he 
turned  his  steps  toward  his  nephew's  house. 

He  passed  the  door  a  dozen  times,  before  he  had  the 


82  AMEEICAN  SPEECH 

courage  to  go  up  and  knock.  But  he  made  a  dash,  and 
did  it:— 

"Is  your  master  at  home,  my  dear?"  said  Scrooge  to 
the  girl.    Nice  girl !     Very. 

"Yes,  Sir." 

"Where  is  he,  my  love?"  said  Scrooge. 

"He's  in  the  dining-room,  Sir,  along  with  mistress. 
I'll  show  you  up  stairs,  if  you  please." 

" Thank 'ee.  He  knows  me,"  said  Scrooge,  with  his 
hand  already  on  the  dining-room  lock,  "I'll  go  in  here, 
my  dear." 

He  turned  it  gently,  and  sidled  his  face  in  round  the 
door.  They  were  looking  at  the  table  (which  was  spread 
out  in  great  array)  ;  for  these  young  housekeepers  are 
always  nervous  on  such  points,  and  like  to  see  that  every- 
thing is  right. 

"Fred!"  said  Scrooge. 

Dear  heart  alive,  how  his  niece  by  marriage  started ! 
Scrooge  had  forgotten,  for  the  moment,  about  her  sit- 
ting in  the  corner  with  the  footstool,  or  he  wouldn't 
have  done  it,  on  any  account. 

' '  Why,  bless  my  soul !  cried  Fred,  ' '  who 's  that  ? ' ' 

"It's  I.  Your  uncle  Scrooge.  I  have  come  to  dinner. 
Will  you  let  me  in,  Fred?" 

Let  him  in !  It  is  a  mercy  he  didn  't  shake  his  arm  off. 
He  was  at  home  in  five  minutes.  Nothing  could  be 
heartier.  His  niece  looked  just  the  same.  So  did  Topper 
when  he  came.  So  did  the  plump  sister,  when  she  came. 
So  did  every  one  when  they  came.  Wonderful  party, 
wonderful  games,  wonderful  unanimity,  won-der-f ul  hap- 
piness ! 

But  he  was  early  at  the  office  next  morning.  Oh,  he 
was  early  there.  If  he  could  only  be  there  first,  and 
catch  Bob  Cratchit  coming  late!  That  was  the  thing 
he  had  set  his  heart  upon. 


WORDS  COMBINED  INTO  SENTENCES  83 

And  he  did  it;  yes  he  did!  The  clock  struck  nine. 
No  Bob.  A  quarter  past.  No  Bob.  He  was  full  eighteen 
minutes  and  a  half  behind  his  time.  Scrooge  sat  with  his 
door  wide  open,  that  he  might  see  him  come  into  the 
Tank. 

His  hat  was  off,  before  he  opened  the  door;  his  com- 
forter too.  He  was  on  his  stool  in  a  jiffy ;  driving  away 
with  his  pen,  as  if  he  were  trying  to  overtake  nine  o'clock. 

' '  Hallo ! ' '  growled  Scrooge,  in  his  accustomed  voice  as 
near  as  he  could  feign  it.  "What  do  you  mean  by  com- 
ing here  at  this  time  of  day?" 

"  I  am  very  sorry.  Sir, ' '  said  Bob.  ' '  I  am  behind  my 
time." 

"You  are?"  repeated  Scrooge.  "Yes.  I  think  you 
are.    Step  this  way.  Sir,  if  you  please. ' ' 

"It's  only  once  a  year.  Sir,"  pleaded  Bob,  appearing 
from  the  Tank.  ' '  It  shall  not  be  repeated.  I  was  making 
rather  merry  yesterday.  Sir." 

"Now,  I'll  tell  you  what,  my  friend,"  said  Scrooge, 
' '  I  am  not  going  to  stand  this  sort  of  thing  any  longer. 
And  therefore,"  he  continued,  leaping  from  his  stool, 
and  giving  Bob  such,  a  dig  in  the  waistcoat  that  he  stag- 
gered back  into  the  Tank  again :  ' '  and  therefore  I  am 
about  to  raise  your  salaiy  ! ' ' 

Bob  trembled,  and  got  a  little  nearer  to  the  ruler.  He 
had  a  momentary  idea  of  knocking  Scrooge  down  with 
it ;  holding  him ;  and  calling  to  the  people  in  the  court 
for  help  and  a  strait  waistcoat. 

"A  Merry  Christmas,  Bob!"  said  Scrooge,  with  an 
earnestness  that  could  not  be  mistaken,  as  he  clapped  him 
on  the  back.  "A  merrier  Christmas,  Bob,  my  good  fel- 
low, than  I  have  given  you  for  many  a  year !  I  '11  raise 
your  salary,  and  endeavor  to  assist  your  struggling  fam- 
ily, and  we  will  discuss  your  affairs  this  very  afternoon, 
over  a  Christmas  bowl  of  smoking  bishop,  Bob !     Make 


84  AMERICAN  SPEECH 

up  the  fires,  and  buy  another  coal-senttle  before  you  dot 
another  i,  Bob  Cratchit ! ' ' 

Scrooge  was  better  than  his  word.  He  did  it  all,  and 
infinitely  more;  and  to  Tiny  Tim,  who  did  not  die,  he 
was  a  second  father.  He  became  as  good  a  friend,  as 
good  a  master,  and  as  good  a  man,  as  the  good  old  city 
knew,  or  any  other  good  old  city,  town,  or  borough,  in 
the  good  old  world.  Some  people  laughed  to  see  the  alter- 
ation in  him,  but  he  let  them  laugh,  and  little  heeded 
them ;  for  he  was  wise  enough  to  know  that  nothing  ever 
happened  on  this  globe,  for  good,  at  which  some  people 
did  not  have  their  fill  of  laughter  in  the  outset;  and 
knowing  that  such  as  these  would  be  blind  anyway,  he 
thought  it  quite  as  well  that  they  should  wrinkle  up  their 
eyes  in  grins,  as  have  the  malady  in  less  attractive  forms. 
His  own  heart  laughed :  and  that  was  quite  enough  for 
him. 

He  had  no  further  intercourse  with  Spirits,  but  lived 
upon  the  Total  Abstinence  Principle,  ever  afterwards ; 
and  it  was  always  said  of  him,  that  he  knew  how  to  keep 
Christmas  well,  if  any  man  alive  possessed  the  knowl- 
edge. May  that  be  truly  said  of  us,  and  all  of  us !  And 
so,  as  Tiny  Tim  observed,  God  Bless  Us,  Every  One ! 

3.  Read  the  following  from  Irving' s  Tales  of  a 
Traveller. 

The  Adventure  of  My  Uncle 

He  had  not  taken  above  half  of  his  first  nap  when  he 
was  awakened  by  the  clock  of  the  chateau,  in  the  turret 
over  his  chamber,  which  struck  midnight.  It  was  just 
such  an  old  clock  as  ghosts  are  fond  of.  It  had  a  deep, 
dismal  tone,  and  struck  so  slowly  and  tediously  that  my 
uncle  thought  it  would  never  have  done.     He  counted 


WORDS  COMBINED  INTO  SENTENCES  85 

and  counted  till  he  was  confident  he  counted  thirteen, 
and  then  it  stopped. 

The  fire  had  burnt  low,  and  the  blaze  of  the  last  fagot 
was  almost  expiring,  burning  in  small  blue  flames,  which 
now  and  then  lengthened  up  into  little  white  gleams.  My 
uncle  lay  with  his  eyes  half  closed,  and  his  nightcap 
drawn  almost  down  to  his  nose.  His  fancy  was  already 
wandering,  and  began  to  mingle  up  the  present  scene 
with  the  crater  of  Vesuvius,  the  French  Opera,  the  Coli- 
seum at  Rome,  Dolly's  chop-house  in  London,  and  all  the 
farrago  of  noted  places  with  which  the  brain  of  a  trav- 
eller is  crammed, — in  a  w^ord,  he  was  just  falling  asleep. 

Suddenly  he  was  roused  by  the  sound  of  footsteps, 
slowly  pacing  along  the  corridor.  My  uncle,  as  I  have 
often  heard  him  say  himself,  was  a  man  not  easily  fright- 
ened. So  he  lay  quiet,  supposing  tliis  some  other  guest 
or  some  servant  on  his  way  to  bed.  The  footsteps,  how- 
ever, approached  the  door;  the  door  gently  opened; 
whether  of  its  own  accord,  or  whether  pushed  open,  my 
uncle  could  not  distinguish :  a  figure  all  in  white  glided 
in.  It  was  a  female,  tall  and  stately,  and  of  a  command- 
ing air.  Her  dress  was  of  an  ancient  fashion,  ample  in 
volume,  and  sweeping  the  floor.  She  walked  up  to  the 
fireplace,  without  regarding  my  uncle,  who  raised  his 
nightcap  with  one  hand,  and  stared  earnestly  at  her. 
She  remained  for  some  time  standing  by  the  fire,  which, 
flashing  up  at  intervals,  cast  blue  and  white  gleams  of 
light,  that  enabled  my  uncle  to  remark  her  appearance 
minutely. 

Her  face  was  ghastly  pale,  and  perhaps  rendered  still 
more  so  by  the  bluish  light  of  the  fire.  It  possessed 
beauty,  but  its  beauty  was  saddened  by  care  and  anxiety. 
There  was  the  look  of  one  accustomed  to  trouble,  but  of 
one  whom  trouble  could  not  cast  down  nor  subdue ;  for 
there  was  stiU  the  predominating  air  of  proud,  uncon- 


86  AMERICAN  SPEECH 

qiierable  resolution.  Such  at  least  was  the  opinion 
formed  by  my  uncle,  and  he  considered  himself  a  great 
physiognomist. 

The  figure  remained,  as  I  said,  for  some  time  by  the 
fire,  putting  out  first  one  hand,  then  the  other ;  then  each 
foot  alternately,  as  if  warming  itself;  for  your  ghosts, 
if  ghost  it  really  was,  are  apt  to  be  cold.  My  uncle,  fur- 
thermore, remarked  that  it  wore  high-heeled  shoes,  after 
an  ancient  fashion,  with  paste  or  diamond  buckles,  that 
sparkled  as  though  they  were  alive.  At  length  the  figure 
turned  gently  round,  easting  a  glassy  look  about  the 
apartment,  which,  as  it  passed  over  my  uncle,  made  his 
blood  run  cold,  and  chilled  the  very  marrow  in  his  bones. 
It  then  stretched  its  arms  toward  heaven,  clasped  its 
hands,  and  wringing  them  in  a  supplicating  manner, 
glided  slowly  out  of  the  room. 

4.  Read  the  following  selection  from  Irving 's 
Rip  Van  Winkle. 

Rip  Van  Winkle 

As  he  was  about  to  descend,  he  heard  a  voice  from  a 
distance,  hallooing,  "Rip  Van  Winkle!  Rip  Van  Win- 
kle ! ' '  He  looked  round,  but  could  see  nothing  but  a  crow 
winging  its  solitary  flight  across  the  mountain.  He 
thought  his  fancy  must  have  deceived  him,  and  turned 
again  to  descend,  when  he  heard  the  same  cry  ring 
through  the  still  evening  air;  "Rip  Van  Winkle!  Rip 
Van  Winkle!" — at  the  same  time  Wolf  bristled  up,  his 
back,  and  giving  a  low  growl,  skulked  to  his  master's 
side,  looking  fearfully  down  into  the  glen.  Rip  now 
felt  a  vague  apprehension  stealing  over  him;  he  looked 
anxiously  in  the  same  direction,  and  perceived  a  strange 
figure  slowly  toiling  up  the  rocks,  and  bending  under  the 


WORDS  COMBINED  INTO  SENTENCES  87 

weight  of  something  he  carried  on  his  back.  He  was  sur- 
prised to  see  any  human  being  in  this  lonely  and  unfre- 
quented place,  but  supposing  it  to  be  some  one  of  the 
neighborhood  in  need  of  his  assistance,  he  hastened  down 
to  yield  it. 

5.  Also  read  from  the  same  story: 

Rip  Van  Winkle's  Return  Home 

The  appearance  of  Rip,  with  his  long  grizzled  beard, 
his  rusty  fowling-piece,  his  uncouth  dress,  and  an  army 
of  women  and  children  at  his  heels,  soon  attracted  the 
attention  of  the  tavern  politicians.  They  crowded  round 
him,  eyeing  him  from  head  to  foot  with  great  curiosity. 
The  orator  bustled  up  to  him,  and,  drawing  him  partly 
aside,  inquired  "on  which  side  he  voted?"  Rip  stared 
in  vacant  stupidity.  Another  short  but  busy  little  fellow 
pulled  him  by  the  arm,  and,  rising  on  toptoe,  inquired  in 
his  ear,  ' '  Whether  he  was  Federal  or  Democrat  ? ' '  Rip 
was  equally  at  a  loss  to  comprehend  the  question ;  when 
a  knowing,  self-important  old  gentleman,  in  a  sharp 
cocked  hat,  made  his  way  through  the  crowd,  putting 
them  to  the  right  and  left  with  his  elbows  as  he  passed, 
and  planting  himself  before  Van  Winkle,  with  one  arm 
akimbo,  the  other  resting  on  his  cane,  his  keen  eyes  and 
sharp  hat  penetrating,  as  it  were,  into  his  very  soul,  de- 
manded in  an  austere  tone,  "what  brought  him  to  the 
election  with  a  gun  on  his  shoulder,  and  a  mob  at  his 
heels,  and  whether  he  meant  to  breed  a  riot  in  the  vil- 
lage ?  "^-"  Alas !  gentlemen,"  cried  Rip,  somewhat  dis- 
mayed, "I  am  a  poor  quiet  man,  a  native  of  the  place, 
and  a  loyal  subject  of  the  king,  God  bless  him!" 

Here  a  general  shout  burst  from  the  by-standers — ' '  A 
tory !  a  tory !  a  spy !  a  refugee !  hustle  him !  away  with 
him ! "     It  was  with  great  difficulty  that  the  self -impor- 


88  AMEEICAI^  SPEECH 

tant  man  in  the  cocked  hat  restored  order;  and,  having 
assumed  a  tenfold  austerity  of  brow,  demanded  again 
of  the  unknown  culprit,  what  he  came  there  for,  and 
whom  he  was  seeking?  The  poor  man  humbly  assured 
him  that  he  meant  no  harm,  but  merely  came  there  in 
search  of  some  of  his  neighbors,  who  used  to  keep  about 
the  tavern. 

"Well — who  are  they? — Name  them." 

Rip  bethought  himself  a  moment,  and  inquired, 
''Where's  Nicholas  Vedder?" 

There  was  a  silence  for  a  little  while,  Avhen  an  old  man 
replied,  in  a  thin  piping  voice,  "Nicholas  Vedder!  why, 
he  is  dead  and  gone  these  eighteen  years !  There  was  a 
wooden  tombstone  in  the  church-yard  that  used  to  tell 
all  about  him,  but  that's  rotten  and  gone  too." 

"Where's  Brom  Butcher?" 

"Oh,  he  went  off  to  the  army  in  the  beginning  of  the 
war:  some  say  he  was  killed  at  the  storming  of  Stony 
Point — others  say  he  was  drowned  in  a  squall  at  the  foot 
of  Antony's  Nose.  I  don't  know — he  never  came  back 
again." 

"Where's  Van  Bummel,  the  schoolmaster?" 

* '  He  went  off  to  the  wars  too,  was  a  great  militia  gen- 
eral, and  is  now  in  congress. ' ' 

Rip 's  heart  died  away  at  hearing  of  these  sad  changes 
in  his  home  and  friends,  and  finding  himself  thus  alone 
in  the  world.  Every  answer  puzzled  him  too,  by  treating 
of  such  enormous  lapses  of  time,  and  of  matters  which 
he  could  not  understand :  war — congress — Stony  Point ; 
— he  had  no  courage  to  ask  after  any  more  friends,  but 
cried  out  in  despair,  "Does  nobody  here  know  Rip  Van 
Winkle?" 

6.  Read  from  Poe's  The  Pit  and  the  Pendulum 
the  extract  that  folloW'S : 


words  combined  into  sentences  89 

The  Pit  and  the  Pendulum 

As  I  arose  from  the  attempt,  the  mystery  of  the  alter- 
ation in  the  chamber  broke  at  once  upon  my  understand- 
ing. I  have  observed  that,  although  the  outlines  of  the 
figures  upon  the  walls  were  sufficiently  distinct,  yet  the 
colors  seemed  blurred  and  indefinite.  These  colors  had 
now  assumed,  and  were  momentarily  assuming  a  start- 
ling and  most  intense  brilliancy,  that  gave  to  the  spectral 
and  fiendish  portraitures  an  aspect  that  might  have 
thrilled  even  firmer  nerves  than  my  own.  Demon  eyes, 
of  a  wild  and  ghastly  vivacity,  glared  upon  me  in  a  thou- 
sand directions,  where  none  had  been  visible  before,  and 
gleamed  with  the  lurid  luster  of  a  fire  that  I  could  not 
force  my  imagination  to  regard  as  unreal. 

Unreal! — Even  while  I  breathed  there  came  to  my  nos- 
trils the  breath  of  the  vapor  of  heated  iron !  A  suffo- 
cating odor  pervaded  the  prison.  A  deeper  glow  settled 
each  moment  in  the  eyes  and  glared  at  my  agonies !  A 
richer  tint  of  crimson  diffused  itself  over  the  pictured 
horrors  of  blood.  I  panted !  I  gasped  for  breath  !  There 
could  be  no  doubt  of  the  design  of  my  tormentors — oh, 
most  unrelenting !  oh,  most  demoniac  of  men !  I  shrank 
from  the  glowing  metal  to  the  center  of  the  cell.  Amid 
the  thought  of  the  fiery  destruction  that  impended,  the 
idea  of  the  coolness  of  tne  well  came  over  my  soul  like 
balm.  I  rushed  to  its  deadly  brink.  I  threw  my  strain- 
ing vision  below'.  The  glare  from  the  enkindled  roof 
illumined  its  inmost  recesses.  Yet,  for  a  wild  moment, 
did  my  spirit  refuse  to  comprehend  the  meaning  of  what 
I  saw.  At  length  it  forced — it  wrestled  its  way  into  my 
soul — it  burned  itself  in  upon  my  shuddering  reason. 
Oh,  for  a  voice  to  speak! — oh,  horror! — oh,  any  horror 
but  this!  With  a  shriek,  I  rushed  from  the  margin,  and 
buried  my  face  in  my  hands — weeping  bitterly. 


90  AMEBIC  AN  SPEECH 

The  heat  rapidly  increased,  and  once  again  I  looked 
up,  shuddering  as  with  a  fit  of  the  ague.  There  had  been 
a  second  change  in  the  cell — and  now  the  change  was 
obviously  in  the  for^n.  As  before,  it  was  in  vain  that  I 
at  first  endeavored  to  appreciate  or  understand  what  was 
taking  place.  But  not  long  was  I  left  in  doubt.  The 
inquisitorial  vengeance  had  been  hurried  by  my  twofold 
escape,  and  there  was  to  be  no  more  dallying  with  the 
King  of  Terrors.  The  room  had  been  square.  I  saw  that 
two  of  its  iron  angles  were  now  acute — two,  consequently, 
obtuse.  The  fearful  difference  quickly  increased  with  a 
low  rumbling  or  moaning  sound.  In  an  instant  the  apart- 
ment had  shifted  its  form  into  that  of  a  lozenge.  But 
the  alteration  stopped  not  here — I  neither  hoped  nor 
desired  it  to  stop.  I  could  have  clasped  the  red  walls  to 
my  bosom  as  a  garment  of  eternal  peace.  "Death,"  I 
said,  ' '  any  death  but  that  of  the  pit ! ' '  Fool !  might  I 
not  have  known  that  into  the  pit  it  was  the  object  of  the 
burning  iron  to  urge  me  ?  Could  I  resist  its  glow  ?  or  if 
even  that,  could  I  withstand  its  pressure  ?  And  now, 
flatter  and  flatter  grew  the  lozenge,  with  a  rapidity  that 
left  me  no  time  for  contemplation.  Its  center,  and  of 
course,  its  greatest  width,  came  just  over  the  yawning 
gulf.  I  shrank  back — but  the  closing  walls  pressed  me 
resistlessly  onward.  At  length  for  my  seared  and 
writhing  body  there  was  no  longer  an  inch  of  foothold 
on  the  firm  floor  of  the  prison.  I  stiiiggled  no  more,  but 
the  agony  of  my  soul  found  vent  in  one  loud,  long  and 
flnal  scream  of  despair.  I  felt  that  I  tottered  upon  the 
brink — I  averted  my  eyes — 

There  was  a  discordant  hum  of  human  voices !  There 
was  a  loud  blast  as  of  many  trumpets!  There  was  a 
harsh  grating  as  of  a  thousand  thunders !  The  fiery  walls 
rushed  back !     An  outstretched  arm  caught  my  own  as 


WORDS  COMBINED  INTO  SENTENCES  91 

I  fell,  fainting,  into  the  abyss.  It  was  that  of  General 
Lasalle.  The  French  army  had  entered  Toledo.  The 
Inquisition  was  in  the  hands  of  its  enemies. 

b.  Young  readers  and  speakers  are  cautioned 
against  depending  too  much  upon  force  for  empha- 
sis. Many  think  that  force  and  emphasis  are 
synonymous.  That  this  is  not  true  will  be  seen 
when  one  reads  the  section  in  this  book  on 
emphasis. 

Eate 

99.  Rate  is  rapidity  of  utterance.  Reduced  to 
mathematical  terms,  it  means  the  number  of  words 
a  minute  spoken.  An  experienced  teacher  of 
public  speaking  used  to  say,  "  If  I  were  permitted 
to  teach  a  speaker  but  one  thing,  I  would  teach 
him  how  to  speak  at  a  proper  rate. ' '  Not  only  is 
it  true  that  physiological  and  psychological  facts 
are  usually  disregarded  when  speakers  fix  their 
rate  of  delivery,  but  it  is  likewise  true  that  many 
speakers  have  no  knowledge  of  the  hearing  powers 
of  their  audiences. 

In  answer  to  the  question,  "How  fast  can  a 
good  stenographer  write!"  a  court  stenographer 
recently  replied :  ''About  100  to  120  words  a  min- 
ute of  new  matter." 

"But  I  supposed  that  there  were  shorthand 
writers  who  could  write  200  words  a  minute," 
interposed  the  questioner. 

"Yes,  there  are;  but  not  200  words  of  new  ma- 
terial. To  reach  that  speed  they  must  know  what 
is  coming.  The  difficulty  is  not  with  their  fingers. 
They  can  make  the  word-signs  fast  enough,  but 


92  AMERICAN  SPEECH 

tliey  cannot  hear  an  average  of  over  100  or  120 
unfamiliar  words  a  minute. ' ' 

They  cannot  hear  an  average  of  over  100  to  120 
words  a  minute;  and  these  are  stenographers, — 
men  and  women  trained  by  careful  instruction  and 
constant  practice,  to  hear  and  understand.  If  this 
is  true  of  shorthand  writers,  what  may  be  said 
of  the  hearing  power  of  the  ordinary  class  of 
pupils  or  of  the  average  audience  such  as  is  found 
in  a  church,  in  a  court  room,  at  a  political  meeting, 
or  at  a  lecture  ? 

100.  Exercise.  To  find  out  what  this  means, 
try  the  following  experiment:  Eead  one  minute 
by  your  watch  from  a  book  or  paper.  Then  count 
the  number  of  words  you  have  read.  You  will 
perhaps  be  surprised  to  discover  that  instead  of 
100,  the  count  has  reached  nearer  200,  if  it  does 
not  exceed  that  number. 

This  must  not  be  taken  to  mean  that  all  speaking 
should  be  done  at  a  rate  not  to  exceed  100-120 
words  a  minute.  It  means  that  ordinary  new  ma- 
terial should  not  average  more  than  that.  Some 
kinds  of  passages — light,  running  conversation, 
rapid,  concrete  narrative,  and  the  like,  will  let  the 
rate  hurry  and  the  words  fall  rapidly,  and  for 
two  reasons:  first,  because  the  thread  of  the 
thought  by  its  very  concrete  nature  is  easily  fol- 
lowed; and,  second,  because  the  words  used  in 
such  passages  are  ordinarily  the  short,  crisp, 
homely  ones  of  the  language.  On  the  contrary, 
when  the  material  under  discussion  is  abstract  and 
unfamiliar,  the  reasoning  close  and  complex,  the 


WORDS  COMBINED  INTO  SENTENCES  93 

sentences  involved,  and  the  words  themselves  nec- 
essarily larger  and  less  familiar,  the  rate  must  be 
lessened  if  the  audience  is  to  grasp  the  ideas.  It 
is  well  known  that  few  persons  can  readily  think 
in  terms  abstract  or  unfamiliar.  Such  expres- 
sions, phrases,  and  images  must  be  translated  in 
the  hearer 's  mind  into  familiar  terms  and  pictures 
before  the  truth  conveyed  by  them  can  be  under- 
stood. This  takes  time,  and  the  speaker  should 
make  his  rate  so  moderate  that  time  will  be  allowed 
for  the  process. 

101.  Attention.  Furthermore  the  attention  of 
listeners  is  not  constant. 

Psychologists  tell  us  that  the  attention  of  an  au- 
dience fluctuates,  and  that  the  skillful  speaker  will 
take  this  fact  into  consideration,  alternating  heavy 
with  light,  slow  with  fast.  For  a  more  extended 
discussion  of  this  subject  students  are  referred 
to  The  Psychology  of  Public  Speaking,  by  Wal- 
ter Dill  Scott,  Chapter  vii. 

102.  To  lessen  rate.  "But,"  it  is  frequently 
asked,  "how  can  I  speak  as  slowly  as  100  words  a 
minute ! " 

The  answer  is :  Not  by  drawling  words,  but  by 
letting  the  periods  of  pause  lengthen  and  occupy 
their  proper  space.  One  old-fashioned  country 
school  mistress  known  to  the  writer  used  to  have 
her  pupils  in  reading  count  slowly  and  audibly  at 
each  comma,  "one,"  at  each  semicolon,  "two"  at 
each  period,  question  mark,  or  exclamation  point, 
"three."  This  mechanical  device,  while  not  add- 
ing to  the  euphony  of  the  reading,  taught  the 


94  AMERICAN  SPEECH 

scholars  to  ''mind  the  pauses,"  and  when  they 
had  advanced  to  the  stage  of  development  where 
they  were  permitted  to  comit  to  themselves,  the 
reading  was  pleasing  and  intelligible. 

While  this  method  is  not  advocated  for  general 
adoption,  the  effects  that  it  produced  are  most 
commendable.  ''Silence  is  golden"  in  reading  as 
elsewhere. 

When  to  Change  Rate 

103.  Normal  rate.  Normal  rate  (100  to  125 
words  a  minute)  is  used  in  reading  or  speaking 
passages 

a.  that  are  unemotional. 
h.  that  are  not  greatly  involved  in  thought 
or  language. 

104.  Increased    rate.      Rate    is    increased    in 

a.  passages  expressing  outbursts  of  uncon- 
trolled emotion. 

h.  passages  expressing  lightness  and  rapid- 
ity of  action  or  thought,  usually  in 
short   sentences. 

c.  passages  wholly  concrete  and  easily  un- 
derstood. 

105.  Slow  rate.    Rate  is  lessened  in 

a.  passages     expressing     restrained,     re- 

pressed feeling. 

b.  passages  expressing  dignity,  deliberate- 

ness,  hesitancy,  and  the  like. 

c.  passages  that  are  abstract  and  involved, 

usually  in  long  sentences. 


WORDS  COMBINED  INTO  SENTENCES  95 

106.  Exercise.     Read  at  normal  rate: 

1.  Andre's  story  is  the  one  overaiastering  romance  of 
the  Revolution.  American  and  English  literature  is  full 
of  eloquence  and  poetry  in  tribute  to  his  memory  and 
sympathy  for  his  fate.  After  the  lapse  of  a  hundred 
years  there  is  no  abatement  of  interest.  What  had  this 
young  man  done  to  merit  immortality  ? 

2.  Embosomed  amongst  a  family  of  lofty  mountains, 
there  was  a  valley  so  spacious  that  it  contained  many 
thousand  inhabitants.  Some  of  these  good  people  dwelt 
in  log  huts ;  with  the  black  forest  all  around  them,  on 
the  steep  and  difficult  hillsides.  Others  had  their  homes 
in  comfortable  farmhouses  and  cultivated  the  rich  soil 
on  the  gentle  slopes  or  level  surfaces  of  the  valley. 

3.  Finnly  builded  with  rafters  of  oak,  the  house  of 
the  farmer  stood  on  the  side  of  a  hill  commanding  the 
sea,  and  a  shady  sycamore  grew  by  the  door,  with  a 
woodbine  wreathing  around  it.  Rudely  carved  was  the 
porch,  with  seats  beneath;  and  a  footpath  led  through 
an  orchard  wide,  and  disappeared  in  the  meadow. 

4.  As  I  saw  the  last  blue  lines  of  my  native  land  fade 
away  like  a  cloud  in  the  horizon,  it  seemed  as  if  I  had 
closed  one  volume  of  the  world  and  its  concerns,  and 
had  time  for  meditation  before  I  opened  another. 

5.  At  the  foot  of  these  fairy  mountains  the  voyager 
may  have  descried  tlie  light  smoke  curling  up  from  a 
village,  whose  shingle  roofs  gleam  among  the  trees,  just 
where  the  blue  tints  of  the  upland  melt  away  into  the 
fresh  green  of  the  nearer  landscape. 

107.  Exercise.     Read  at  slow  rate: 

1.  With  malice  toward  none,  with  charity  for  all,  with 
firmness  in  the  right  as  God  gives  us  to  see  the  right, 
let  us  finish  the  work  we  are  in,  to  bind  up  the  nation's 
wounds,  to  care  for  him  who  shall  have  borne  the  bat- 


96  AMERICAN  SPEECH 

tie,  and  for  his  wadow  and  orphans,  to  do  all  which  may 
achieve  a  just  and  lasting  peace  among  ourselves  and 
with  all  nations, 

2.  The  heavens  declare  the  glory  of  God  and  the  firma- 
ment showeth  his  handiwork.  Day  unto  day  uttereth 
speech,  and  night  unto  night  showeth  knowledge. 

3.  Soldier,  rest!     Thy  warfare  o'er, 

Sleep  the  sleep  that  knows  no  breaking; 
Dream  of  battle-fields  no  more 
Days  of  danger,  nights  of  waking. 

4.  Roll  on,  thou  deep  and  dark  blue  ocean,  roll. 
Ten  thousand  fleets  sweep  over  thee  in  vain ; 
Man  marks  the  earth  with  ruin — his  control 
Stops  with  the  shore — 

5.  He  is  fallen  !  We  may  now  pause  before  that  splen- 
did prodigy,  which  towered  among  us  like  some  ancient 
ruin,  whose  frown  terrified  the  glance  its  magnificence 
attracted.  Grand,  gloomy,  and  peculiar  he  sat  upon  his 
throne,  a  sceptered  hennit,  wrapt  in  the  solitude  of  his 
own  originality. 

108.     Exercise.    Read  at  fast  rate: 

1.  Stop  the  news!  Already  the  village  church  bells 
were  beginning  to  ring  the  alarm.  In  the  awakening 
houses  lights  flashed  from  window  to  window.  Drums 
beat  faintly  far  away  and  on  every  side.  Signal  guns 
flashed  and  echoed.  The  watch  dogs  barked;  the  cocks 
crew.     Stop  the  news!     Stop  the  sunrise! 

2.  We  see  them  as  they  march  proudly  away  under 
the  flaunting  flags,  keeping  time  to  the  grand,  wild  music 
of  war, — marching  down  the  streets  of  great  cities, 
through  the  towns  and  across  the  prairies,  down  to  the 
fields  of  glory,  to  do  or  die  for  the  eternal  right. 


WORDS  COMBINED  INTO  SENTENCES  97 

3.  Come !  Do  you  say  a  pound  ?  Not  you,  for  you 
haven 't  got  it.  Do  you  say  ten  shillings  ?  Not  you,  for 
you  owe  more  to  the  tallyman.  Well,  then,  I'll  tell  you 
what  I'll  do  with  you.  I'll  heap  'em  all  on  the  foot- 
board of  the  cart — there  they  are !  razors,  flat-irons,  fry- 
ing-pan, watch,  dinner  plates,  rolling-pin,  and  looking- 
glass — take  'em  all  away  for  four  shillings,  and  I  '11  give 
you  sixpence  for  your  trouble. 

4.  Yell'd  on  the  view  the  opening  pack; 
Rock,  glen,  and  cavern,  paid  them  back; 
To  many  a  mingled  sound  at  once 

The  awakened  mountain  gave  response. 
A  hundred  dogs  bayed  deep  and  strong, 
Clattered  a  hundred  steeds  along. 
Their  peal  the  merry  horns  rung  out, 
A  hundred  voices  joined  the  shout; 
With  bark  and  whoop  and  wild  hallo, 
No  rest  Benvoirlich 's  echoes  knew. 
Far  from  the  tumult  fled  the  roe, 
Close  in  her  covert  cowered  the  doe, 
The  falcon  from  her  cairn  on  high 
Cast  on  the  rout  a  wondering  eye 
Till  far  beyond  her  piercing  ken 
The  hurricane  had  swept  the  glen. 

5.  Like  adder  darting  from  his  coil. 
Like  wolf  that  dashes  through  the  toil. 
Like  mountain-cat  who  guards  her  young, 
Full  at  Fitz- James's  throat  he  sprung. 

Quality 

109.  Quality,  more  than  any  other  character- 
istic of  human  speech,  shows  the  personality  of 


98  AMEBIC  AN  SPEECH 

the  speaker  and  his  attitude  toward  his  subject 
and  toward  his  hearers.  There  are  as  many 
different  qualities  of  the  human  voice  as  there  are 
human  emotions,  and  the  quality  changes  in 
speaking  just  .as  the  feelings  of  the  speaker 
change.  The  simplest  utterance  may  be  given 
almost  any  significance.  For  example,  pronounce 
the  commonplace  remark  It  is  raining,  as  follows : 

110.  Exercise.  1.  As  if  you  were  sitting  comfort- 
ably in  your  room,  and  happened  to  glance  up  from 
your  book. 

2.  As  if  you  were  a  small  child  who  had  been  planning 
to  go  to  a  picnic,  and  were  prevented  by  tlie  rain. 

3.  As  if  you  were  the  mother  of  the  child  and  felt 
sorry  for  the  disappointment. 

4.  As  if  you  had  been  fighting  a  forest  fire  which  the 
rain  would  check. 

5.  As  if  you  were  the  owner  of  property  threatened 
by  a  flood,  which  an  increase  of  water  would  destroy. 

6.  As  if  you  were  jeering  at  someone  who  had  been 
positive  that  it  would  not  rain. 

7.  As  if  you  had  been  told  to  do  something  which  is 
impossible  to  do  in  the  rain. 

8.  As  if  it  had  rained  and  rained  for  days,  until  you 
were  tired  of  it. 

9.  In  reply  to  someone  who  insists  upon  your  going 
for  a  walk. 

Change  of  Quality 

It  is  easy  to  hear  the  indescribable  change  of 
quality  that  comes  into  the  voice  as  each  emotion 
colors  the  words.    Change  of  quality  is  ordinarily 


WORDS  COMBINED  INTO  SENTENCES  99 

instinctive  and  involuntary.  For  this  reason  it  is 
useless  to  lay  down  any  hard  and  fast  rules. 
However,  because  a  change  of  quality  may  be 
voluntary,  some  general  suggestions  may  be 
useful. 

111.  Neutral  quality.  A  neutral  quality  of 
tone  ordinarily  expresses  a  lack  of  feeling  of  any 
sort.  It  is  the  colorless,  dead,  wooden  tone  fre- 
quently heard  in  schoolroom  recitations,  in  "the 
reading  of  the  minutes  of  the  last  meeting,"  in 
mechanical  statements  of  any  sort.  It  kills  inter- 
est and  puts  an  audience  to  sleep.  It  is  sure  to 
characterize  the  work  of  a  speaker  who  has  no 
interest  in  w^hat  he  is  saying.  It  may  be  clear,  it 
may  not  be  unpk'asant,  but  it  is  not  etfective.  It 
is  useful  for  colorless  reading  and  speaking  be- 
cause it  is  not  at  all  exacting,  but  it  should  not 
become  a  habit.  One  should  not  converse  nor 
address  an  audience  as  he  would  recite  the  multi- 
plication table. 

112.  Orotund  quality.  The  quality  of  tone 
commonly  denoted  by  the  somewhat  fearsome  term 
orotund  is  characterized,  says  the  International 
Dictionary,  "by  fullness,  clearness,  strength,  and 
smoothness;  ringing  and  musical."  No  simpler 
word  exists  in  the  language  to  express  all  these 
ideas.  They  are  all  associated  w^ith  the  nobler 
feelings,  so  that  it  is  a  common  precept  to  employ 
the  orotund  quality  in  passages  that  express  the 
loftier  sentiments.  Mechanically  such  tones  are 
associated  with  free  and  open  vocal  organs.  The 
pleasure  derived  from  hearing  the  orotund  quality 


100  AMEBICAN  SPEECH 

is  largely  the  pleasure  derived  from  hearing  any- 
pure  and  unobstructed  musical  sound. 

113.  Exercise.  Eead  the  following  so  as  to 
express  in  the  quality  of  tone  you  use  the  feeling 
suggested  to  you  by  the  words: 

1.  Floris  was  so  overwhelmed  with  this  happiness  that 
he  was  not  able  to  make  a  reply,  but  threw  himself  down 
at  his  father's  feet  and,  amidst  a  flood  of  tears,  kissed 
and  embraced  his  knees,  asking  his  blessing  and  express- 
ing in  dumb  show  his  love,  duty,  and  gratitude  that  were 
too  big  for  utterance. 

2.  Upon  my  knees 

I  charm  you,  by  my  once  commended  beauty, 
By  all  the  vows  of  love  and  that  great  vow 
"Which  did  incorporate  and  make  us  one, 
That  you  unfold  to  me,  yourself,  your  half, 
Why  you  are  heavy. 

3.  Let  us  do  our  work  as  well 
Both  the  unseen  and  the  seen; 
Make  the  house  where  God  may  dwell, 
Beautiful,  entire,  and  clean. 

4.  Ye  whose  hearts  are  fresh  and  simple, 
Wlio  have  faith  in  God  and  nature, 
Who  believe  that  in  all  ages 

Every  human  heart  is  human. 

That  in  even  savage  bosoms 

There  are  longings,  yearnings,  strivings 

For  the  good  they  comprehend  not. 

That  the  feeble  hands  and  helpless. 

Groping  blindly  in  the  darkness 

Touch  God's  right  hand  in  the  darkness 


WOEBS  COMBINED  INTO  SENTENCES  IQl 

And  are  lifted  up  and  strengthened; — 
Listen  to  this  simple  story. 

5.  0,  Holy  Father,  friend  unseen, 

Since  on  Thine  arm  Th<?u  bid'st  me  lean, 
Help  me  throughout  life's  changing  scene. 
By  faith  to  cling  to  Thee. 

6.  Let  us  extend  our  ideas  over  the  whole  of  the  vast 
field  in  which  we  are  called  to  act.  Let  our  object  be 
OUR  COUNTRY,  Our  Whole  Country,  and  Nothing 
but  Our  Country.  And  by  the  blessing  of  God,  may 
that  country  become  a  vast  and  splendid  monument,  not 
of  oppression  and  terror,  but  of  wisdom,  of  peace,  of 
liberty,  upon  which  the  world  may  gaze  with  admiration 
forever. 

7.  I  have  always  thought  of  Christmas  ...  as  a  good 
time;  a  kind,  forgiving,  charitable,  pleasant  time;  the 
only  time  I  know  of  in  the  long  calendar  of  the  year 
when  men  and  women  seem  by  one  consent  to  open  their 
shut-up  hearts  freely.  .  .  .  And  therefore,  though  it  has 
never  put  a  scrap  of  gold  or  silver  in  my  pocket,  I 
believe  it  has  done  me  good,  and  will  do  me  good ;  and  I 
say,  God  bless  it! 

114.  Guttural  quality.  Another  word  often 
used  to  describe  a  frequently  heard  quality  of  tone 
is  guttural.  The  guttural  quality  is  usually  asso- 
ciated with  feelings  that  are  the  opposite  of  those 
expressed  by  the  orotund — with  those  w^hicli  are 
hateful,  malig-nant,  resentful,  stingy,  and  other 
feelings  of  active  ill-will.  Mechanically  the  gut- 
tural quality  involves  a  contraction  of  the  muscles 
of  the  throat,  the  base  of  the  tongue,  and  the  soft 
palate  that  prevents  a  clear,  open,  resonant  tone. 


102  AMERICAN  SPEECH 

115.     Exercise.     Eead  as  directed  in  113. 

1.  What  else  can  I  be  (than  cross)  when  I  live  in  such 
a  world  of  fools  as  this?  Merry  Christmas!  Out  upon 
Merry  Christmas !  What 's  Christmas  time  to  you  but  a 
time  for  paying  bills  without  money ;  a  time  for  finding 
yourself  a  year  older,  but  not  an  hour  richer;  a  time 
for  balancing  your  books,  and  having  every  item  in  'em 
through  a  round  dozen  of  months  dead  against  you?  If 
I  could  work  my  will,  eveiy  idiot  who  goes  about  with 
"Merry  Christmas"  on  his  lips,  should  be  boiled  with 
his  own  pudding,  and  buried  with  a  stake  of  holly 
through  his  heart! 

2.  Seest  thou,  Isaac,  the  range  of  iron  bars  above  the 
glowing  charcoal?  On  that  warm  couch  thou  shalt  lie, 
stripped  of  thy  clothes.  One  of  these  slaves  shall  main- 
tain the  fire  beneath  thee,  while  the  other  shall  anoint 
thy  wretched  limbs  with  oil  lest  the  roast  should  burn.- 
Now,  choose  betwixt  a  scorching  bed  and  the  payment  of 
a  thousand  pounds  of  silver. 

3.  It's  just  like  you — to  talk  about  my  selling  Wildfire 
in  that  cool  way — the  last  thing  I've  got  to  call  my  own, 
and  the  best  bit  of  horse-flesh  I  ever  had  in  my  life. 
And  if  you'd  got  a  spark  of  pride  in  you,  you'd  be 
ashamed  to  see  the  stables  emptied,  and  everybody  sneer- 
ing about  it.  But  it's  my  belief  you'd  sell  yourself,  if 
it  was  only  for  the  pleasure  of  making  somebody  feel 
he'd  got  a  bad  bargain. 

4.  Come,  you  spirits 
That  tend  on  mortal  thoughts,  unsex  me  here, 
And  fill  me  from  the  crown  to  the  toe,  top-full 
Of  direst  cruelty !    Make  thick  my  blood ; 
Stop  up  the  access  and  passage  to  remorse. 
That  no  compunctious  visitings  of  nature 


WORDS  COMBINED  INTO  SENTENCES  103 

Shake  my  fell  purpose,  nor  keep  peace  between 

The  effect  and  it !    Come  to  my  woman 's  breasts 

And  take  my  milk  for  gall,  you  murdering  ministers. 

Come  thick  night 

And  pall  thee  in  dunnest  smoke  of  hell, 

Tliat  my  keen  knife  see  not  the  wound  it  makes, 

Nor  heaven  peep  through  the  blankets  of  the  dark 

To  cry ''Hold,  hold!" 

116.  Breathy  quality.  Breafhy  is  a  term  used 
to  describe  a  softened  tone  of  whispered  quality. 
It  may  be  wholly  or  partly  whispered.  The  tone 
is  naturally  associated  with  that  whicli  is  secret, 
mysterious,  uncanny,  awesome,  weak,  tender,  and 
the  like.  Mechanically  the  breathy  quality  is  pro- 
duced by  not  bringing  the  edges  of  the  vocal  cords 
together  when  speaking.  The  breathy  quality 
is  sometimes  the  result  of  physical  weakness  which 
prevents  the  muscles  of  the  laiynx  from  acting 
normally,  or  it  may  be  a  temporary  incapacity  of 
the  muscles  to  act,  caused  by  intense  emotion  of  a 
sort  described  above. 

117.  Exercise.     Read  as  directed  in  113. 

1.    And  the  silken,  sad,  uncertain  rustling  of  each  pur- 
ple  curtain 

Thrilled  me — filled  me  with  fantastic  terrors  never 
felt  before, 

So  that  now  to  still  the  beating  of  my  heart,  I  stood 
repeating, 

'Tis  some  visitor  entreating  entrance  at  my  cham- 
ber door. 

Some  late  visitor  entreating  entrance  at  my  cham- 
ber door; 
This  it  is  and  nothing  more. 


104  AMERICAN  SPEECH 

2.  It  was  there  that  I  became  aware  of  a  gentle  foot- 
fall on  the  carpet — and  near  the  conch;  and  a  second 
thereafter,  as  Rowena  was  in  the  act  of  raising  the  wine 
to  her  lips,  I  saw,  or  may  have  dreamed  I  saw,  fall  within 
the  goblet,  as  if  from  an  invisible  spring  in  the  atmos- 
phere of  the  room,  three  or  four  large  drops  of  a  brilliant, 
ruby-colored  fluid. 

3.  Sleep  is  a  reconciling, 

A  rest  that  peace  begets. 


Rest  you,  then,  rest,  sad  eyes! 
Melt  not  in  weeping! 
While  she  lies  sleeping 
Softly,  now  softly  lies, 
Sleeping ! 

4.  Never  seek  to  tell  thy  love. 

Love  that  never  told  can  be; 
For  the  gentle  wind  doth  move 
Silently,  invisibly. 

5.  Now  fades  the  glimmering  landscape  on  the  sight. 

And  all  the  air  a  solemn  stillness  holds. 
Save  where  the  beetle  wheels  his  droning  flight, 
And  drowsy  tinklings  lull  the  distant  folds. 

6.  The  wandering  airs  they  faint 
The  nightingale's  complaint 
On  the  dark,  the  silent  stream — 
The  champak  odors  fail 

Like  sweet  thoughts  in  a  dream : 


WOBDS  COMBINED  INTO  SENTENCES  105 

It  dies  upon  my  heart, 
As  I  must  die  on  thine, 
0,  beloved,  as  thou  art ! 

118.  Nasal  quality.  The  nasal  quality  of  tone 
is  associated  with  that  which  is  querulous,  peev- 
ish, fretful,  complainiug,  discontented,  and  the 
like.  Mechanically  a  nasal  tone  is  made  by  keep- 
ing too  large  a  portion  of  the  voice  from  coming- 
out  of  the  mouth,  and  turning  it  up  through  the 
nose  instead.  The  nasal  quality  is  usually  heard 
on  high-pitched  tones,  rarely  on  low  tones.  It  is 
too  disagreeable  to  be  practiced. 

119.  Connotative  tones.  The  artistry  of  speech 
depends  very  largely  upon  the  quality  of  tone 
used,  for  it  is  by  quality  that  the  connotation  of 
words  and  phrases  is  shown.  It  is  not  alone  the 
word  or  the  phrase  itself  that  must  be  under- 
stood and  felt,  but  that  which  lies  back  of  it — the 
feeling  that  prompted  it.  The  converser  or  the 
speaker  who  uses  only  colorless  tones  is  not  likely 
to  be  interesting  or  effective. 

120.  Attractive  voice. ^  It  is  important  that  the 
quality  of  tone  used  for  ordinary,  everyday  speech 
be  agreeable  and,  if  possible,  attractive.  Nothing 
adds  greater  charm  to  a  personality  than  a  pleas- 
ing voice,  which  means  a  voice  whose  quality  is 
beautiful.  The  most  attractive  appearance  may 
be  spoiled  by  a  disagreeable  voice;  and  by  the 
same  token,  a  plain  appearance  may  be  hidden 
by  a  beautiful  voice. 

1 A  volume  might  be  written  on  this  theme ;  in  fact,  one  has  been 
written  which  cver,\(ine  who  cares  about  his  speech  should  read.  It  is 
The  Voice  and  Spiritual  Education,  by  Hiram  Corson  (Macmillan). 


;l^06  AMEBICAN  SPEECH 

Pitch 

121.  The  relative  pitch  of  a  voice  is  its  position 
on  the  musical_staff.  The  upper  notes  of  a  tenor 
voice  are  well  above  the  treble  staff,  while  the 
low  notes  of  a  bass  are  below  the  bass  staff. 
Soprano  and  contralto  voices  in  women  corre- 
spond to  tenor  and  bass  voices  in  men.  The 
middle  voices,  baritone  and  mezzo-soprano,  range 
from  a  few  tones  above  the  low  ones  to  a  few 
tones  below  the  high  ones.  Most  voices  are  mid- 
dle voices  and  should  be  treated  as  such. 

The  length  and  weight  of  the  vocftL-cards  and 
their  consequent  rapidity  of  vibration  d^tennino 
the  pitch  of  tlie_ voice.  The  length  and  weight 
of  the  vocal  cords  vary  in  different  persons 
just  as  the  length  and  size  of  the  fingers  or 
the  feet  vary;  hence  a  voice  is  normally  high  or 
low  as  the  vocal  cords  are  short  or  long,  light  or 
heavy. 

From  this  it  is  evident  that  each  voice  has  its 
proper  normal  pitch,  and  that  to  speak  properly 
one  should  ascertain  this  pitch  and  be  governed 
by  it. 

122.  How  to  determine  the  pitch  of  a  voice. 
Use  the  vowel  ah.  Run  up  the  musical  scale  to  the 
highest  note  that  can  be  comfortably  sounded. 
Then  run  down  the  scale  to  the  lowest  note  that 
can  be  comfortably  sounded.  Midway  between  the 
two,  perhaps  a  tone  or  two  below  the  middle,  is  the 
tone  that  should  predominate  in  speech,  the  tone 
of  departure,  the  keynote,  so  to  speak. 


WORDS  COMBINED  INTO  SENTENCES  107 

123.  The  importance  of  pitch.  Too  much  can- 
not be  said  of  the  importance  of  properly  pitch- 
ing the  voice.  The  American  voice  is  severely 
criticized  for  two  offensive  characteristics — lack 
of  proper  pitch  and  quality.  American  women  are 
said  to  speak  in  a  high,  shrill,  unpleasant  voice 
that  lacks  reserve  and  control ;  American  men  are 
said  to  growl.  If  ever  the  American  voice  is  to  be 
a  pleasing  one,  it  must  be  pitched  where  nature 
intended  it  to  be. 

124.  Faulty  pitch.  In  the  schoolroom  the 
voices  of  many  women  teachers,  of  most  girls,  and 
of  boys  whose  voices  are  unchanged,  are  ordinar- 
ily over-pitched.  This  is  especially  true  in  oral 
reading  and  in  the  reciting  of  memory  passages. 
Likewise,  boys  from  twelve  to  sixteen  years  of 
age,  whose  voices  are  in  the  process  of  changing, 
frequently  get  into  the  habit  of  growling.  It  is 
difficult  to  do  much  for  such  voices  before  they 
are  somewhat  settled,  but  then  they  should  be 
brought  into  their  proper  pitch. 

125.  The  effects  of  too  high  pitch.  Whenever 
the  throat  aches  or  is  dry,  or  the  voice  be- 
comes hoarse  after  it  has  been  used  for  a 
time,  one  may  be  tolerably  certain  that  the 
voice  is  pitched  too  high.  Under  the  unconscious 
normal  tension  of  the  muscles  of  the  larynx  the 
vocal  cords  vibrate  normally ;  vibrating  normally, 
they  produce  a  normal  tone.  Wlien  the  tone  is 
pitched  above  normal,  it  means  that  the  muscles 
of  the  larynx  that  control  the  tension  of  the  vocal 
cords    are    abnormally   tightened.     They  can  be 


108  AMEEICAN  SPEECH 

drawn  tight  occasionally — even  frequently — with- 
out discomfort  or  injury  if  they  are  not  kept  tight 
for  long  at  a  time.  No  vocal  cords  can  be  over- 
strained for  any  great  length  of  time  without 
showing  the  effect  of  such  strain  by  hoarseness. 
Extreme  hoarseness  means  that  the  vocal  cords 
have  become  congested  and  thickened.  If  you 
could  see  them  in  that  condition,  they  would  look 
lilve  the  white  of  the  eye  which  a  cinder  has  in- 
flamed— red  and  puffy.  Long  continued  shouting 
at  a  football  game,  long  practice  on  a  song  that 
is  ''too  high"  and  other  similar  strains  have  this 
effect. 

126.  Danger.  One  whose  voice  gets  hoarse 
from  speaking  should  know  that  he  is  in  a  fair 
way  to  end  his  usefulness  as  a  speaker.  Such 
strain,  if  continued  for  any  length  of  time,  may 
produce  a  chronic  condition  of  the  larynx  which 
is  wearing  on  the  nerves,  and  which,  combined 
with  a  cold  or  other  inflammation,  may  cause  a 
total  loss  of  the  voice,  or  in  extreme  cases  even 
death  from  acute  laryngitis. 

A  normal  pitch  may  be  cultivated  by  constant 
thought  and  attention,  and  in  every  class  of  every 
school  that  attention  should  be  constantly  exerted. 

127.  Normal  pitch.  It  hardly  need  be  said 
that  not  all  pupils  in  a  class  are  likely  to  have 
the  same  normal  pitch.  For  this  reason  it  is  not 
wise  to  do  a  gi-eat  amount  of  unison  singing  of 
wide  range,  nor  to  have  much  concert  recitation. 
So  far  as  is  possible,  voices  should  be  grouped 
together  according  to  their  natural  pitch  and  the 


WORDS  COMBINED  INTO  SENTENCES  109 

groups  handled  separately.  If  unison  exercises 
are  necessary,  keep  them  below  rather  than  above 
the  average  normal. 

128.  Exercise.    Pronounce  See  the  dog. 

1.  Very  quietly  and  low,  as  if  he  were  listening 
intently  for  something  and  you  did  not  wish  to  disturb 
him. 

2.  In  an  ordinary  tone,  as  if  he  were  stretched  out 
comfortably  before  the  fireplace  and  you  wished  merely 
to  call  attention  to  him. 

3.  As  if  you  were  calling  to  someone  a  hundred  feet 
away. 

4.  As  if  you  wanted  to  sound  a  quick  warning  for  fear 
he  would  bite  the  person  you  called  to. 

129.  Exercise.    Pronounce  Give  me  that  note. 

1.  As  if  you  were  passing  it  during  study  hour  in 
school. 

2.  As  if  you  were  offering  to  mail  it. 

3.  As  if  you  were  calling  up  to  a  person  in  the  window 
of  an  apartment  two  floors  above  you. 

4.  As  if  someone  had  snatched  it  from  you  and  you 
were  very  angry. 

130.  What  these  exercises  show.  These  exer- 
cises illustrate: 

First,  that  there  is  a  normal  pitch  used  by  a 
speaker  who  is  under  no  stress  of  emotion.  Such 
is  the  pitch  used  in  2,  in  both  exercises. 

Second,  that  certain  emotions  and  conditions 
have  the  effect  of  lowering  the  pitch,  as  in  1  in 
both  exercises. 

Third,  that  others  have  the  effect  of  raising  the 
pitch,  as  in  exercises  3  and  4. 


110  AMEEICAN  SPEECH 

131.  Exercise.  Pronounce  the  following,  first 
quietly  as  if  in  ordinary  conversation  with  some- 
one near  you;  then  in  the  same  pitch  but  louder, 
repeat  the  sentence  as  if  the  person  addressed 
were  across  a  large  room  from  you: 

1.  May  I  take  your  knife  ? 

2.  She  is  older  than  her  brother. 

3.  Why  were  you  not  in  school  today? 

4.  Jack  said  he  would  wait  for  me  when  school  was  out. 

5.  That  car  seems  to  be  crowded  with  students. 

6.  The  ice  on  the  mill-pond  is  three  inches  thick. 

7.  Why  does  my  voice  get  tired  after  I  have  been  read- 
ing a  short  time  ? 

8.  Probably  it  is  because  you  pitch  it  too  high. 

132.  Variations  in  pitch.  The  movements  of 
the  voice  have  been  likened  to  those  of  the  sea — 
constantly  in  motion — rising  and  falling  slightly 
but  ceaselessly  when  there  is  nothing  to  disturb 
it;  leaping  to  high  crests  and  plunging  to  corre- 
sponding depths  under  stress  of  a  strong  com- 
pelling force. 

133.  How  pitch  is  changed.  The  pitch  of  the 
voice  is  changed  in  two  ways  and  for  two  distinct 
purposes: 

1.  The  whole  range  of  the  voice  may  be  moved 
up  or  down  the  scale,  just  as  we  change  the  key  in 
music.  Thus,  if  the  middle  tone  of  a  voice  is  nor- 
mally F,  a  sudden  stress  of  emotion  may  raise  it  to 
A  or  B  and  keep  it  there  while  the  emotion  lasts. 

2.  The  voice  may  travel  constantly  up  and  down 
the  gamut,  returning  frequently  to  its  normal,  for 
the  purpose  of  expressing  ideas,  meanings,  rela- 


WORDS  COMBINED  INTO  SENTENCES  m 

tions,  sometimes  even  emotions.    Such  changes  of 
pitch  are  commonly  called  iniiections. 

134.  Changing  the  pitch  of  the  whole  voice. 
The  pitch  of  the  whole  voice  is  raised  in  outbursts 
of  speech  that  are  stimulating,  exciting;  that  ex- 
press great  joy,  fear,  pain,  grief,  surprise — almost 
any  intense  feeling  that  is  sudden  and  unsup- 
pressed.  The  stronger  the  feeling,  the  higher  the 
key. 

135.  Exercise.  Read  the  following.  Notice 
that  the  voice  is  instinctively  raised  in  pitch. 

1.  Haste  thee,  Nymph,  and  bring  with  thee 
Jest  and  youthful  jollity ; 

Quips  and  cranks  and  wanton  wiles, 
Nods  and  becks  and  wreathed  smiles. 

2.  And  what  is  so  rare  as  a  day  in  June  ? 
Then,  if  ever,  come  perfect  days. 

3.  The  little  bird  sits  at  his  door  in  the  sun, 
Atilt  like  a  blossom  among  the  leaves, 

And  lets  his  illumined  being  o'eriTin 
With  the  deluge  of  summer  it  receives. 

4.  0,  daddy!  I'm  so  glad!  I  don't  think  I  shall  want 
anything  else  when  we've  got  a  little  garden;  and  I 
know  Aaron  would  dig  it  for  us. 

5.  Caesar  cried,  "Help  me,  Cassius,  or  I  sink." 

6.  "Now,  by  St.  George!"  the  archer  cries, 
' '  Edmiuid,  methinks  we  have  a  prize ! ' ' 

7.  And  jewels,  two  stones,  two  rich  and  precious  stones 
Stolen  by  my  daughter!    Justice!    Find  the  girl! 


112  AMERICAN  SPEECH 

8.  By  the  gods, 
You  shall  digest  the  venom  of  your  spleen 
Though  it  do  split  you;    for  from  this  day  forth 
I'll  use  you  for  my  mirth,  yea,  for  my  laughter 
When  you  are  waspish. 

9.  Malcolm !    Banquo ! 

As  from  your  graves  rise  up,  and  walk  like  sprites, 
To  countenance  this  horror! 

136.  When  pitch  is  lowered.  The  pitch  of  the 
whole  voice  is  lowered  in  the  expression  of  feel- 
ings that  are  subdued,  restricted,  repressed: 
pity,  horror;  secret  fear,  grief,  sorrow,  hate;  ten- 
der affection ;  mystery,  secrecy,  suspense ;  reproof, 
disapproval,  and  the  like.  The  stronger  the  feel- 
ing, the  lower  the  key. 

Read  the  following.  Notice  that  the  voice  is 
instinctively  lowered  in  pitch. 

1.  My  boy !    My  poor  boy !    He  was  all  I  had ! 

2.  Sleep  and  rest!     Sleep  and  rest! 

Father  will  come  to  thee  soon.  ' 

3.  How  sweet  the  moonlight  sleeps  upon  this  bank ! 
Here  will  we  sit  and  let  the  sounds  of  music 
Creep  in  our  ears :  soft  stillness  and  the  night 
Become  the  touches  of  sweet  harmony. 

3.  If  I  can  catch  him  once  upon  the  hip, 

I  will  feed  fat  the  ancient  grudge  I  bear  him. 

4.  Down  swept  the  chill  wind  from  the  mountain  peak. 
From  the  snows  five  thousand  summers  old. 
From  open  wold  and  hill-top  bleak 


WOBDS  COMBINED  INTO  SENTENCES  113 

It  had  gathered  all  the  cold 

And  whirled  it  like  sleet  on  the  wanderer's  cheek. 

5,  Alone,  alone !    All,  all  alone ! 

Alone  on  a  wide,  wide  sea ; 
And  never  a  saint  took  pity  on 
My  soul  in  agony. 

Inflections 

137.  Definition  and  purpose.  Inflections  are 
the  upward  and  downward  movements  of  the 
voice  above  and  below  its  normal  pitch. 

Inflections  serve  three  purposes — 

1.  To  indicate  the  meaning  of  a  sentence  as  a 
whole.  Thus  the  sentence,  "You  saw  him,"  when 
spoken  with  a  downw^ard  inflection  at  the  end, 
states  a  fact.  When  spoken  with  an  upward 
inflection  at  the  end,  it  asks  a  question. 

2.  To  indicate  tlie  relation  between  the  parts 
of  a  sentence.    Thus  in  the  sentence 

"He  was  a  tall,  dark  man,  with  black,  beady  eyes," 

tlie  upward  inflection  on  man  indicates  that  the 
thought  is  incomplete, — something  is  yet  to  be 
added  to  complete  it.    If  the  sentence  is  changed  to 

''He  was  a  tall,  dark  man;  his  eyes  were  black  and 
beady," 

the  downward  inflection  on  man  indicates  that  the 
sentence  is,  in  part,  at  least,  complete,  and  that 
what  comes  after  is  a  separate  thought. 

3.  To  call  attention  to  a  particular  word  in  a 
sentence,  and  to  indicate  its  relation  to  other 
words.    Thus 

"Now  I  say,  'Business  is  business.'  " 


114  AMERICAN  SPEECH 

On  the  word  say  the  voice  rises  before  the  natu- 
ral pause,  thus  indicating  an  incompleted  idea; 
— the  object  of  the  verb  say  is  expected  partly  by 
reason  of  this  suspended  inflection. 

On  the  first  word  business  the  double  inflection 
(down  and  up)  helps  to  call  attention  to  its  im- 
portance, whereas  the  downward  inflection  on  the 
second  business  both  calls  attention  to  the  word 
and  indicates  the  end  of  the  idea. 

138.  Kinds  of  inflections.  For  ordinary  speak- 
ing and  reading  the  use  of  inflections  is  very  sim- 
ple. There  are  but  three  commonly  used  inflec- 
tions. 

1.  The  upward  inflection. 

2.  The  downward  inflection. 

3.  The  double  inflection. 

139.  1.  The  upward  inflection.  The  upward  in- 
flection (/)  is  used  on  a  word  preceding  a  pause 
at  a  point  within  a  sentence  where  the  meaning 
is  not  complete.  The  rise  of  the  voice  and  the  fol- 
lowing pause  indicate  naturally  that  something  is 
to  follow  which  will  finish  what  is  being  said. 
Punctuation  has  little  to  do  with  the  use  of  this 
inflection.  The  upward  inflection  does  not  pre- 
cede a  semicolon,  a  colon,  or  a  period.  It  fre- 
quently does  precede  a  comma,  but  so,  also,  does 
the  downward  inflection. 

140.  2.  The  downward  inflection.  The  down- 
ward inflection  ( ^ )  is  used  on  a  word  preceding  a 
pause  within  a  sentence  where  the  sense  might  be 
complete,  and  on  the  last  word  of  a  declarative 
sentence.    The  fall  of  the  voice  and  the  following 


WORDS  COMBINED  INTO  SENTENCES  115 

pause  indicate  naturally  that  the  meaning  of  the 
sentence  is,  or  may  be,  complete  at  that  point. 

The  downward  inflection  at  the  end  of  the  sen- 
tence is  usually  more  pronounced  than  at  a  point 
within  the  sentence.    Thus  in  the  sentence 

' '  I  stood  on  the  bridge  at  midnight,  wlien  the  clock  was 
striking  the  hour, ' ' 

the  downward  inflection  on  midnight  is  not  so  pro- 
nounced as  on  hour. 

Punctuation  helps  somewhat  in  using  this  in- 
flection. At  semicolons,  colons,  and  periods  the 
downward  inflection  is  ordinarily  used.  It  may 
also  be  used  at  commas,  or  even  at  pauses  in  a 
sentence  where  there  is  no  punctuation.  If  the 
meaning  is  or  may  be  completed  at  any  pause — 
i.  e.,  if  the  sentence  can  be  ended  with  a  period  and 
make  sense — there  is  the  place  for  a  do\vnward 
inflection,  regardless  of  punctuation. 

141.  The  double  inflection.  3.  The  double  in- 
flection may  be  either  down-and-up  or  up-and- 
down.   ( . .  - — • )   Whichever  way  it  goes,  it  directs 

attention  to  the  word  or  phrase  on  which  it  is 
used.    (See  section  150.) 

142.  Exception.  Emphasis  sometimes  changes 
the  general  practice  of  inflection.  Unusual  em^ 
phasis  often  carries  the  voice  downward  without 
regard  to  the  completeness  of  what  is  being  said. 

143.  Exercise.  Eead  the  following,  giving  at- 
tention to  inflections: 

"How  that  personage  haunted  my  dreams,  I  need 
hardly  tell  you.    On  stormy  nights,  when  the  wind  shook 


116  AMERICAN  SPEECH 

the  house,  and  the  surf  roared  along  the  cove  and  up  the 
cliffs,  I  would  see  him  in  a  thousand  forms.  Now  the 
leg  would  be  cut  off  at  the  knee,  now  at  the  hip ;  now  he 
was  a  monstrous  creature  who  never  had  but  one  leg,  and 
that  in  the  middle  of  his  body.  To  see  him  leap  and  run 
and  pursue  me  over  hedge  and  ditch,  was  the  worst  of 
nightmares. ' ' 

Note  :  For  a  more  extended  discussion  of  inflections  see  The 
Principles  of  Oral  English,  pp.  40-91,  by  Erastus  Palmer   (Macmillan). 

Emphasis 

144.  Definition.  Emphasizing  a  word  vocally 
is  speaking  it  so  that  it  stands  out  from  the  other 
words  about  it.  Emphasis  is  produced  by  con- 
trast. To  emphasize  a  word  one  must  make  it 
different  from  the  words  that  surround  it.  There 
is  a  normal,  unemphatic  way  of  speaking  words 
that  are  of  no  especial  importance  or  interest. 
Emphasis  is  a  departure  from  this  normal  way. 

145.  How  to  emphasize  a  word.  Some  of  the 
ways  of  emphasizing  a  word  vocally  are  as  fol- 
lows: 

{a)  By  making  it  louder  than  other  words 

about  it. 

(h)  By  making  it  not  so  loud. 

(c)  By  speaking  it  in  a  higher  key. 

(d)  By  speaking  it  in  a  lower  key. 

(e)  By  giving  it  unusual  inflection. 
(/)  By  prolonging  it. 

(g)  By  shortening  it. 
(Ji)  By  pausing  after  it. 
(i)    By  pausing  before  it. 


WORDS  COMBINED  INTO  SENTENCES  117 

(j)  By  pausing  before  and  after  it. 
(k)  By  changing  the  quality  of  voice  when 
speaking  it. 

In  actual  practice  two  or  more  of  these  methods 
are  usually  combined. 

146.  a.    Emphasizing   a   word  by   making  it 
louder. 

1.  I  said  "stop,  stop!    Do  you  hear?" 

2.  Hoarsely  roared  the  swollen  torrent. 

3.  ''Good  speed!"  cried  the  watch  as  the  gate-bolts- 
andrew. 

147.  b.  Emphasizing  a  word  by  making  it  not 
so  loud. 

1.  ''Speed,"  echoed  the  wall  to  us  galloping  through. 

2.  Father  and  son  ? — dead. 

3.  Theirs  not  to  reason  why, 
Theirs  but  to  do — and  die. 

148.  c.  Emphasizing  a  word  by  speaking  it  in 
a  higher  key. 

1.  Oh  !  dream  of  joy  !  is  this  indeed 
The  lighthouse  top  I  seef 

Is  this  the  hillf    Is  this  the  kirkf 
Is  this  mine  own  countrief 

2.  A  flash  of  light  in  the  darkness  leaps  league  on 
league  of  snarling  sea  and  cries  to  shore  for  help. 

149.  d.  Emphasizing  a  word  by  speaking  it  in 
a  lower  key. 

1.  Oh,  pooh,  send  someone  else. 

2.  "The  beggar  raised  not  the  gold  from  the  dust. 

Better  to  me  the  poor  man's  crust, 


118  AMERICAN  SPEECH 

Better  the  'blessing  gf  the  poor, 

Though  he  turn  me  empty  from  his  door. ' ' 

3.  Walls  crumble;  empires  pass  away. 

150.  e.  Emphasizing  a  word  by  giving  it  an 
unusual  inflection. 

1.  Funny?  .Funny! — I  should  say  it  was  funny. 

2.  In  Virginia  was  excitement,  comradeship,  possibly 
glory.     (Read  as  an  ordinary  enumeration.) 

(Read  excitedly) — 

In    Virginia   was    excitement,    comradeship,   possibly 
glory ! 

3.  But  God  rules!  and  truth,  and  justice,  and  the  love 
of  man  for  man.  will  triumph  in  the  e7id. 

151.  /.  Emphasizing  a  word  by  prolonging  it. 

1.  Break,  break,  break 

On  thy  cold  gray  stones,  0  Sea! 

2.  Alone,  alone,  all,  all  alone, 
Alone  on  a  ivide,  wide  sea. 

3.  That's   the  way  with  men — always  wanting  and 
wanting,  and  never  satisfied  with  what  they  have. 

152.  g.  Emphasizing  a  word  by  shortening  it. 

1.  Stop!  Stop!  I  say — don't  stir! 

2.  All  this!     A}',   more;  fret  till  your  proud  heart 

break; 
Go,  show  your  slaves  how  choleric  you  are ! 

3.  Now,  in  the  name  of  all  the  gods  at  once, 
Upon  what  7neat  doth  this  our  Ccesar  feed. 
That  he  has  grown  so  great? 

153.  h.    Emphasizing    a    word    by    pausing 
after  it. 


WORDS  COMBINED  INTO  SENTENCES  119 

1.  Time  \  rolls  his  ceaseless  course. 

2.  He  is  depressed  \  and  ill  \    and  hopeless. 

3.  He  openly  hoasts  \  that  he  has  done  more  in  a  week 
to  '^ settle"  I  the  question  than  Pasha  did  in  a  year. 

154.  i.  Emphasizing   a  word  by  pausing  be- 
fore it. 

1.  He  really  is — queer,  shall  we  say? 

2.  "I 'm — killed,  Sire  ! ' '    And  his  chief  beside, 
Smiling,  the  boy  fell — dead. 

3.  "When  education  becomes — ^'practical" — it   often 
ceases  to  be  cultural. 

155.  j.  Emphasizing  a  word  by  pausing  before 
and  after  it. 

1.  They  call  this,  making  education — ^'useful" — and 
utility  becomes  their  watchword. 

2.  And  they  call  such  brutes — leaders — of  men. 

3.  Everyone    knows    that    they    are — practically — at 
least,  the  real  law-makers. 

156.  k.  Emphasizing  a  word  by  changing  the 
quality  of  the  voice. 

1.  I  said  an  elder  soldier,  not  a  tetter; 
Did  I  say  better? 

2.  Why  look  you,  how  you  storm! 

I  would  be  friends  with  you,  and  have  your  love, 
Forget  the  shames  that  you  have  stained  me  with. 
This  is  kind  I  offer. 

3.  He  can  be  smiling,  hard,  peevish,  brutal — all  in  a 

minute. 

Placing  Emphasis 

The    proper    oral    reading    of    a    sentence    so 
closely  follows  its  construction,  and  at  the  same 


120  AMEBICAN  SPEECH 

time  is  so  infrequently  understood,  that  a  brief 
discussion  of  the  sentence  and  how  it  is  made 
follows. 

157.  Classes  of  words  in  sentences.  Ordinarily 
sentences  are  made  up  of  three  classes  of  words 
— (1)  structural  words,  (2)  modifying  words,  (3) 
connecting  words  and  particles. 

1.  Structural  words  are 

a.  the  subject  (noun  or  substantive) 

h.  the  predicate  (verb) 

c.  the  complement  (noun  or  adjective) 

2.  Modifying  words  are 

a.  adjectives  (modifying  nouns) 

b.  adverbs    (modifying   verbs,    adjectives, 

and  adverbs) 

c.  possessives  (nouns  and  pronouns) 

d.  demonstratives  (this,  that,  etc.) 

e.  relatives  (which,  who,  that,  etc.) 

/.  auxiliary  verbs  (have,  shall,  may,  etc.) 

3.  Connective  words  and  particles  are 

a.  articles 

b.  prepositions 

c.  conjunctions  and  conjunctive  adverbs 

d.  neuter  verbs  (be,  become,  etc.) 

158.  Emphasis  in  clauses.  Clauses,  whether 
dependent  or  independent,  are  made  up  in  the 
same  way  as  sentences  are,  so  that  what  applies 
to  emphasis  in  sentences  applies  in  about  the 
same  way  to  emphasis  in  clauses. 


WORDS  COMBINED  INTO  SENTENCES  121 

Let  US  take  the  simplest  type  of  sentence : 
Boys  fish. 

Here  it  is  evident  that  each  word  is  pronounced 
with  equal  emphasis. 

The  boys  fish  for  trout. 

Here  the  words  boys,  fish,  and  trout  are  empha- 
sized equally,  while  the  and  for  are  merely  articu- 
lated clearly  without  emphasis. 

The  active  boys  fish  quietly  for  the  sly  trout. 
Here  in  the  phrase  the  active  hoys 

hoys  is  most  important 
active  is  less  important  than  boys 
the  is  necessary  but  not  important  as  com- 
pared with  the  other  words. 

So  is  fish  more  important  than  quietly,  and  trout 
than  sly,  whereas  for  and  the  are  of  little  impor- 
tance. 

So  where  the  sentence  is  read  aloud: 

The  is  merely  pronounced  distinctly 
active  is  slightly  emphasized 
boys  is  strongly  emphasized 
fish  is  strongly  emphasized 
quietly  is  slightly  emphasized 
for  is  merely  pronounced  distinctly 
the  is  merely  pronounced  distinctly 
sly  is  slightly  emphasized 
trout  is  strongly  emphasized. 


122  AMEEICAN  SPEECH 

Stated  in  another  way, 

ho2/s — fish — trout,  contain  the  bulk  of  the 
meaning  of  the  sentence,  and  even  if 
they  were  spoken  without  the  other 
w^ords  the  meaning  would  be  under- 
stood. These  principal  words  must 
be  heard  and  felt  if  the  idea  in  the 
sentence  is  to  be  comprehended,  and 
so  we  emphasize  them  more  than  we 
do  the  others. 

Active,  quietly,  sly  help  us  to  catch  a  little 
more  accurately  the  thought,  but  they 
do  not  alter  the  principal  fact,  so  we 
give  them  not  so  much  weight  when 
we  read  them. 

The  words — for — the — are  merely  the  par- 
ticles— the  mortar  between  the  bricks 
— and  beyond  articulating  them 
clearly  we  give  them  slight  attention. 

Note  :     In  words  of  more  than  one  syllable  the  unaccented  syllables 
are  treated  as  if  they  were  particles,  which  often  they  really  are. 

159.  Principles  of  emphasis.  The  sentence  dis- 
cussed in  158  serves  to  illustrate  the  general  prin- 
ciples of  emphasis. 

1.  Structural  words  are  usually  delivered  with 
primary  emphasis. 

2.  Modifying  words  are  usually  delivered  with 
secondary  emphasis. 

3.  Connective  words  and  particles  are  usually 
not  emphasized,  but  merely  articulated. 


WOEDS  COMBINED  INTO  SENTENCES  123 

160.  Exercise.     Eead,  emphasizing  as  above. 

a.  The  American  college  lias  played  a  unique  part 
in  American  life. 

h.  The  college  has  been  the  seat  of  ideals. 

c.  Athletics  are  indispensable  to  the  normal  life  of 
young  men. 

d.  God  said,  ' '  I.  am  tired  of  kings  ! ' ' 

e.  The  blood  of  my  heart  is  the  wine  they  drink. 
/.  God  grant  you  draw  no  quiet  breath 

Until  the  madness  you  began 
Is  ENDED,  and  long-suffering  man, 
^S'e^  FREE  from  war-lords  cries, 
"Let  there  he  light!" 

161.  Exceptions.  Naturally  there  are  many 
exceptions  to  a  principle  so  general,  because  any 
word  may  be  emphasized.  Some  of  the  commoner 
exceptions  are: 

1.  Pronouns  or  other  words  of  reference  are 
frequently  unemphatic,  even  when  used  as  struc- 
tural words. 

162.  Exercise. 

The  undergraduate  should  have  scholars  for  teach- 
ers. They  should  hold  his  attention  steadily  upon 
great  tested  bodies  of  knowledge,  and  should  insist  tliat 
he  MAKE  himself  acquainted  with  them. 

2.  Words  that  express  a  contrast  with  some- 
thing that  has  been  said  or  is  to  be  said  are  often 
given  primary  emphasis,  whether  they  are  struc- 
tural words  or  not. 


124  AMEEICAN  SPEECH 

163.  Exercise. 

a.  The  comradeship  of  undergraduates  will  never 
breed  the  spirit  of  learning.  The  circle  must  be  widened. 
It  must  include  the  older  men. 

h.  All  four  of  these  years  must  be  college  years. 
They  cannot  be  school  years. 

c.  Such  men  are  not  even  op  the  college ;  they  are 
merely  in  the  college. 

d.  Young  men  are  capable  of  great  enthusiasm  for 
older  men. 

3.  Repeated  words  usually  take  primary 
emphasis. 

164.  Exercise. 

a.  In  the  beginning  was  the  word,  and  the  word  was 
with  God,  and  the  word  was  God. 

h.  That  this  government  of  the  people,  by  the  people, 
and  for  the  people,  should  not  perish  from  the  earth. 

165.  Pupils'  practice  for  emphasis,  a.  When 
learning  to  read,  pupils  should  form  the  habit  of 
picking  out  the  structural  words  of  sentences  and 
emphasizing  them.  In  exceptional  sentences  the 
natural  instinct  of  the  reader  will  enable  him  to 
mark  the  exceptional  emphasis. 

b.  Beginning  pupils  should  be  taught  not  to 
emphasize  connectives  and  particles  and  unac- 
cented syllables.  A  common  fault  in  reading  is 
giving  too  much  weight  and  importance  to  these 
small  elements.  They  should  not  be  omitted  nor 
slurred  over;  they  should  be  clearly  articulated, 
but  not  emphasized. 

c.  A  fault  almost — perhaps  quite — as  common, 


WORDS  COMBINED  INTO  SENTENCES  125 

is  reading  qualifying  words  in  the  gushy,  school- 
girl fashion,  as  if  they  were  structural.  In  cases 
where  such  reading  seems  to  be  right,  it  will  often 
be  found  that  the  sentence  structure  is  faulty — 
that  instead  of  expressing  the  principal  thought  in 
the  subject  and  predicate,  the  writer  has  left  it  to 
qualifying  words  or  phrases.  In  original  oral 
work  the  attention  of  pupils  should  be  carefully 
and  constantly  directed  to  the  fact  that  principal 
thoughts  should  be  expressed  by  principal  words 
in  sentences,  not  by  secondary  words. 


End  Words 

166.  End  words,  a.  One  of  the  rules  of  com- 
position is  that  a  word  standing  at  the  end  of  a 
phrase,  a  clause,  or  a  sentence,  is  in  an  important 
position  and  should  be  an  important  word.  Many 
readers  and  speakers  either  do  not  know  of  this 
rule  or  else  do  not  follow  it.  These  end  words  in 
phrases,  clauses,  and  sentences  are  very  often 
most  important;  and  when  they  are,  they  should 
be  made  emj^hatic  when  read  or  spoken  aloud. 

h.  It  is  not  an  uncomnion  thing  to  hear  readers 
and  speakers  ''swallow"  the  ends  of  sentences. 
When  they  get  toward  the  end  of  one  sentence, 
their  minds  naturally  turn  to  what  is  coming  next, 
and  they  neglect  the  last  words.  The  pitch  lowers, 
the  stress  weakens,  the  articulation  is  less  sharp, 
— briefly,  the  end  of  the  sentence  is  a  blur,  whereas 
it  should  be  most  strong  and  distinct. 


126  AMERICAN  SPEECH 

167.  Phrasing,  a.  Phrasing  is  grouping  words 
together  vocally  so  that  their  grammatical  and 
rhetorical  relations  will  be  heard  and  understood. 
Phrasing  involves  two  things 

{a)  pauses  (marked  |  between  words) 
(h)  inflections 

h.  One  of  the  commonest  faults  in  reading  and 
speaking  is  the  meaningless  placing  of  pauses. 
There  are  two  reasons  for  pausing:  (1)  for  empha- 
sis; (2)  to  indicate  a  grouping  of  words  that  con- 
stitute a  grammatical  or  rhetorical  phrase. 

c.  Pausing  for  emphasis  has  already  been  dis- 
cussed. (See  Emphasis  h,  i,  j.)  Little  else  need 
be  said,  except  that  it  is  sometimes  hard  to  tell 
whether  to  pause  or  not  after  an  emphatic  word. 
Sometimes  the  use  of  the  rhetorical  pause  (for 
emphasis)  interferes  with  the  fluency,  the  coher- 
ence, of  the  whole  sentence.  In  such  cases  it  is 
ordinarily  best  to  omit  the  rhetorical  pause  and 
keep  the  uninterrupted  flow  of  thought,  using  an- 
other means  of  emphasizing  the  important  word 

or  words. 

168.  Phrasing  illustrated.  In  the  following 
sentence.  They  ask  what  is  the  real  worth  in  the 
market  of  a  liberal  education,  the  word  worth 
is  important  and  evidently  needs  to  be  emphasized 
when  read  aloud.  The  reader  must  decide 
whether  he  shall  pause  after  worth  to  emphasize 
it,  or  whether  the  close  (restrictive)  connection 
between  worth  and  in  the  market  will  lead  him  to 
omit  the  pause.     Upon  careful  analysis  he  may 


WOEDS  COMBINED  INTO  SENTENCES  127 

determine  the  complement  of  is  to  be  worth  in 
the  market,  not  worth  alone.  If  so,  he  decides 
to  keep  this  group  together,  not  to  separate  the 
parts  by  pausing  after  worth.  He  may  emphasize 
worth  in  anotlier  way  as  he  speaks  it. 

A  careful  reader  must  constantly  analyze  the 
sentences  he  pronounces  so  that  ivhat  they  mean 
may  be  brought  out  by  his  reading.  The  skill- 
ful teacher  will  persistently  urge  the  inseparable 
connection  between  the  sentence  structure  and 
meaning,  and  the  oral  reading  of  the  sen- 
tence. 

169.  Restrictive  and  non-restrictive  modifiers. 
The  most  practical  way  to  learn  the  difference 
between  restrictive  and  non-restrictive  modifiers 
is  to  study  them  vocally. 

In  the  sentence  ''They  argTie  as  if  everything 
had  its  price,  and  that  where  there  has  been  a 
great  outlay  they  have  a  right  to  expect  a  great 
return  in  kind"  the  question  comes  on  the  rela- 
tion between  return  and  kind.  Is  the  phrase  in 
kind  restrictive  or  non-restrictive?  If  the  latter, 
a  pause  will  come  properly  after  return;  but  if 
the  former,  the  two  should  not  be  separated  by  a 
pause. 

Another  example:  ''Some  men  insist  that  edu- 
cation should  be  confined  to  some  particular  and 
narrow  end,  and  should  issue  in  some  narrow 
work  which  can  be  weighed  and  measured. ' ' 

The  reader  must  here  decide  whether  the  rela- 
tive clause  tvhich — measured  is  restrictive  or  non- 
restrictive.    If  the  latter,  work  is  followed  by  a 


128  AMEBICAN  SPEECH 

pause;  but  if  the  former,  there  can  properly  be 
no  pause  after  ivork. 

170.  Restrictives.  In  the  two  examples  given 
there  may  be  an  honest  doubt  about  the  restrictive 
relation  of  the  modifiers  indicated.  In  the  follow- 
ing, however,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  rela- 
tive clause  is  restrictive  and  that  it  cannot  be 
separated  from  tliose  without  destroying  the 
coherence  of  the  sentence:  "This  is  the  obvious 
answer  to  those  who  urge  the  claims  of  utility  in 
education. ' ' 

On  words  coming  before  restrictive  modifiers 
the  downward  inflection  cannot  properly  be  used. 
On  words  before  non-restrictive  modifiers  the 
inflection  is  up  or  down  as  the  emphasis  on  the 
word  modified  requires. 

The  first  example  above,  if  restrictive,  is  read — 
What  is  the  real  worth  in  the  market,  with  an 
upward  inflection  on  worth  and  no  pause  after  it. 

If  non-restrictive  it  may  be  read  What  is  the 
real  worth  \  in  the  market, — with  a  downward  in- 
flection and  a  pause  after  it. 

The  second  example  above,  if  restrictive,  is 
read — They  have  a  right  to  expect  a  great  return 
in  kind, — with  an  upward  inflection  on  return  and 
no  pause  after  it.  If  non-restrictive,  it  is  read — 
They  have  a  right  to  expect  a  great  return  |  in 
kind. 

Poetry 

171.  How  to  read  poetry.  There  is  a  vast  dif- 
ference of  opinion  al)out  reading  poetry.    At  one 


WOEDS  COMBINED  INTO  SENTENCES  129 

extreme  are  those  who  say  that  poetry  should  be 
read  as  if  it  were  rhythmical  prose,  with  little  or 
no  regard  to  c^esural  or  other  pause  than  that 
required  by  the  sentence  structure,  and  with  no 
more  accent  than  that  w^hich  the  natural  emphasis 
gives.  At  the  other  extreme  are  those  who  say 
that  readers  of  poetry  should  be  governed  strictly 
by  the  metrical  structure  of  the  poetry  read.  Al- 
fred Noyes  says  that  now-a-days  it  is  the  fashion 
of  those  reading  poetry  to  disregard  that  which 
the  poet  has  worked  hardest  to  put  into  his  work — 
i.  e.,  its  tone  and  rhythm;  and  at  times  Mr.  Noyes' 
own  reading  is  a  musical  chant. 

The  writer  believes  that  the  best  practice  lies 
between  the  two  extremes.  No  reading  of  poetry 
should  neglect  either  the  rhythm  or  the  meaning. 
Obviously  in  passages  where  tone  and  rhythm  are 
essential  to  express  what  the  poet  wishes  to  ex- 
press, these  elements  must  be  strongly  brought  out 
by  the  reader. 

172.  Exercise.  Note  the  necessity  of  following 
closely  the  rhythm  in  the  following. 

Take  aw^ay  the  rhythm  that  is  carefully  wrought 
into  these  lines,  and  you  have  little  left;  at  least 
you  have  lost  that  which  first  impresses  one  who 
hears  the  lines,  and  which  remains  longest  with 
him. 

1.    I  sprang  to  the  stirrup,  and  Joris  and  he, 

I  galloped,  Dirck  galloped,  we  galloped  all  three; 
"Good  speed!"  cried  the  watch,  as  the  gate-bolta 
undrew ; 


130  AMEBICAN  SPEECH 

' 'Speed ! ' '  echoed  the  wall  to  us  galloping  through ; 
Behind  shut  the  postern,  the  lights  sank  to  rest, 
And  into  the  midnight  we  galloped  abreast. 

2.  The  curfew  tolls  the  knell  of  parting  day, 
The  lowing  herd  wind  slowly  o'er  the  lea. 
The  plowman  homeward  plods  his  weary  way, 
And  leaves  the  world  to  darkness  and  to  me. 

3.  Haste  thee,  nymph,  and  bring  with  thee. 
Jest  and  youthful  jollity; 

Quips  and  cranks  and  wanton  wiles, 
Nods  and  becks  and  wreathed  smiles, 
Such  as  hang  on  Hebe's  cheek 
And  love  to  lie  in  dimples  sleek. 

4.  The  year's  at  the  spring, 
And  the  day's  at  the  mom; 
Morning 's  at  seven ; 

The  hillside's  dew-pearled: 
The  lark's  on  the  wing; 
The  snail's  on  the  thorn; 
God's  in  his  heaven — 
All's  right  with  the  world. 

5.  A  hurry  of  hoofs  in  a  village  street, 

A  shape  in  the  moonlight,  a  bulk  in  the  dark. 
And  beneath,  from  the  pebbles,  in  passing,  a  spark 
Struck  out  by  a  steed  flying  fearless  and  fleet : 
That  was  all!     And  yet,  thro'  the  gloom  and  the 

light, 
The  fate  of  a  nation  was  riding  that  night ; 
And  the  spark  struck  out  by  that  steed  in  his  flight 
Kindled  the  land  into  flame  with  its  heat. 


WOEDS  COMBINED  IXTO  SENTENCES  131 

173.  Exercise.  On  the  other  hand,  read  the 
following  and  note  how  slightly  the  rhythmical 
element  is  felt. 

1.  And  thus  he  wandered,  dumb, 

Till  evening,  when  he  paused,  thoroughly  spent. 

On  a  blind  hilltop ;  down  the  gorge  he  went, 

Yielding  himself  up  as  to  an  embrace; 

The  moon  came  out ;  like  features  of  a  face 

A  querulous  fraternity  of  pines, 

Sad   blackthorn    clumps,    leafless    and    grovelling 

vines 
Also  came  out,  made  gradually  up  the  picture. 

2.  Down  swept  the  chill  wind  from  the  mountain  peak 
From  the  snows  five  thousand  summers  old ; 

On  open  wold  and  hilltop  bleak 
It  had  gathered  all  the  cold. 

And  hurled  it  like  sleet    'gainst  the  wanderer's 
cheek. 

3.  Looking  straight  at  the  King,  with  her  level  brows. 
She  said,  "I  keep  true  to  my  faith  and  my  vows." 

Examples  need  not  be  multiplied  to  show  that 
frequently  regxilar  rhythm  may  be  almost  entirely 
lacking  and  pauses  may  come  with  utter  irregu- 
larity in  lines  of  poetry.  Most  poems,  however, 
combine  the  meaning  of  the  lines  with  the  move- 
ment of  the  rhythm,  and  it  is  usually  possible  to 
read  them  so  that  neither  the  meaning  nor  the 
rhythm  is  lost.  Personal  temperament  or  fancy 
may  emphasize  one  or  the  other,  but  it  should  not 
excuse  a  reader  from  neglecting  either. 


CHAPTER  V 
DIALECT  SPEECH 

174.  American  dialect.  No  language  is  without 
forms  of  siDeech  characterized  by  local  peculiari- 
ties. The  American  speech  has  a  vast  number  of 
peculiarities,  because  the  American  people  come 
from  every  corner  of  the  globe  and  bring  with 
them  peculiarities  of  every  sort.  No  standard 
speech  can  be  established  until  these  peculiarities 
are  removed.  A  concrete  illustration  of  the  speech 
condition  in  many  of  our  schools  is  found  in  a  re- 
cent picture  of  twenty-two  pupils  from  one  room 
in  a  Utica,  N.  Y.,  school.  In  this  picture  each 
pupil  holds  a  placard  bearing  the  name  of  his 
nationality.  Twenty-two  different  sets  of  speech 
faults  in  one  room, — it  seems  incredible;  and  yet 
in  the  seventh  grade  of  a  similar  Utica  school  the 
writer  heard  a  recitation  from  a  class  of  pupils 
very  few  of  whom  were  children  of  American- 
born  parents,  but  not  one  of  whom  showed  any 
strong  dialect  in  his  speech. 

It  is  not  difficult  to  remove  a  dialect  from  the 
speech  of  boys  and  girls  not  over  sixteen  or  sev- 
enteen years  old.  Above  that  age  it  is  not  impos- 
sible, although  it  is  difficult  in  many  adults. 

175.  Correcting  dialect.  There  are  two  meth- 
ods of  correcting  dialect  peculiarities: 

1.  By  imitating  correct  sound. 

132 


DIALECT  SPEECH  133 

2.  By  manipulating  the  organs  of  speech  so  that 
they  produce  correct  sounds.  (See  The  Sounds 
of  English,  by  Henry  Sweet,  p.  16.) 

176.  Imitation,  a.  This  is  perhaps  the  quick- 
est and  easiest  way,  and  the  only  one  that  can 
be  used  by  the  teacher  who  has  not  had  the  train- 
ing necessary  for  the  other  method.  The  success 
of  imitation  depends  largely  upon  the  ear  of  the 
pupiL  If  the  pupil  detects  readily  the  difference 
in  sound  between  his  own  speech  and  the  standard 
set  by  the  teacher,  he  will  be  able  gradually  to 
bring  his  own  speech  up  to  that  standard.  How- 
ever, for  various  reasons,  many  dialect-speaking 
pupils  cannot  hear  their  own  faults. 

b.  The  first  thing  to  find  out  in  each  case  of  dia- 
lect is  what  sounds  are  misproduced.  To  do  this 
listen  closely  to  the  speaking  and  reading  of  the 
pupil  and  make  careful  notes  of  every  w^ord  in 
which  there  is  any  trace  of  dialect,  until  there  are 
collected  a  considerable  number  of  observations. 
Then  classify  the  errors  and  note  carefully  the 
ones  which  occur  most  frequently.  For  example, 
in  the  case  of  X  may  be  found  three  chief  faults : 

w  is  pronounced    r  —  we  =ve 
th  is  pronounced    d  —  this  =  dis 
z  is  pronounced  ss  —  his  =his 

c.  If  X  can  hear  the  difference  between  w  and 
V,  th  and  d,  z  and  ss,  it  will  be  enough  to  call 
attention  to  his  errors  and  furnish  sufficient  prac- 
tice in  the  right  sounds,  until  he  wears  out  the 
dialect.    If,  however,  X  is  tone-deaf  or  otherwise 


134  AMERICAN  8PEECB 

deficient  and  insists  ''I  do  not  say  ve,  I  say  ve!'^ 
the  other  plan  must  be  followed  to  cure  him. 

177.  The  manipulation  of  the  organs  of  speech. 
a.  It  is  a  scientific  fact  that  when  any  set  of 
speech  organs  is  placed  in  a  certain  position,  a 
certain  sound  will  be  made.  The  anatomy  of 
normal  persons  is  nearly  enough  alike  for  this. 
The  properly  equipped  teacher  should  know  ex- 
actly what  position  the  speech  organs  should  take 
for  every  sound,  vowel  or  consonant;  and  he 
should  know  how  to  get  a  pupil's  speech  organs 
into  each  position.  For  example,  in  the  w-v 
sounds  given  above,  the  teacher  should  show  the 
pupil  that  V  is  made  by  thrusting  the  lower  lip 
against  the  upper  front  teeth,  and  that  tv  is  made 
by  pushing  the  lips  forward  in  front  of  the  teeth 
as  far  as  they  will  go,  and  rounding  them.  Wlien 
a  pupil's  lips  are  in  this  latter  position,  he  cannot 
possibly  make  the  sound  of  v,  and  vice  versa. 

h.  The  descriptions  of  the  various  vowel  and 
consonant  sounds  and  the  illustrations  that  accom- 
pany them  will  help  even  an  untrained  teacher  to 
use  this  second  method  of  manipulation. 

c.  Faulty  consonant  sounds  are  not  so  hard  to 
correct  as  are  faulty  vowel  sounds.  There  are 
certain  vowel  sounds  in  every  language  that  are 
peculiar  to  that  language.  They  cannot  be  used 
in  speaking  another  language,  although  the  spell- 
ing may  be  the  same  in  both.  The  earlier  children 
can  be  drilled  in  the  use  of  the  American  vowels, 
the  better.  Such  drill  should  continue  until  Amer- 
ican vowels  are  fixed.    Vowel  drill  and  consonant 


DIALECT  SPEECH  135 

drill  need  not  necessarily  be  separated,  although 
for  various  reasons  progress  will  be  faster  if  the 
vowel  sounds  are  first  corrected. 

d.  No  better  exercises  can  be  here  given  than 
those  already  prescribed  in  the  sections  on  Voivels 
and  Consonants. 

178.  Rhythm  a  source  of  dialect.  Rhythm, 
which  is  largely  the  result  of  emphasis,  is  another 
source  of  dialect  speech.  A  child  that  speaks  a 
foreign  language  in  his  home  often  carries  the 
foreign  ''accent"  into  his  American  speech.  This 
habit  can  be  cured  by  careful  attention  to  empha- 
sis wdien  he  reads  or  speaks  the  American  speech. 
This  has  been  explained  in  the  section  on  Empha- 
sis, and  the  exercises  given  there  will  be  found 
useful  in  establishing  the  American  speech 
rhythm. 

179.  Intonation  a  source  of  dialect.  Another 
source  of  dialect  is  tone.  American  is  not  a  tonal 
speech  in  any  technical  sense,  and  yet  there  are 
in  it  certain  characteristic  intonations  peculiar 
to  the  lang-uage.  These  must  be  acquired,  and 
they  can  only  be  acquired  by  patient  and  intelli- 
gent drill,  that  will  drive  out  alien  intonation  and 
establish  American.  This  is  a  matter  too  delicate 
and  complicated  to  discuss  on  paper.  Perhaps 
the  phonograph  may  in  time  be  used  for  such  in- 
struction. 


CHAPTER  VI 
SPEAKING  IN  PUBLIC 

180.  Why  do  we  speak?  There  are  four  rea- 
sons for  speaking-  to  an  audience: 

1.  To  entertain  it. 

2.  To  explain  something  that  you  want  it  to 
know. 

3.  To  convince  it  that  it  shoukl  believe  as 
you  do. 

4.  To  get  it  to  act  as  you  would  have  it  act. 

A  single  purpose  may  prompt  you  to  speak,  or 
the  purposes  may  be,  and  usually  are,  combined. 

181.  To  entertain.  This  is  the  purpose  of  nar- 
ration and  description.  Entertainment  usually 
takes  the  form  of  story-telling,  relating  unusual 
occurrences,  describing  quaint  persons  or  places, 
and  the  like.  To  be  entertaining  a  speaker  must 
make  his  hearers  see  what  he  describes  as  he 
saw  it,  hear  it  as  he  heard  it,  feel  it  as  he  felt  it, 
smell  and  taste  it  as  he  smelled  and  tasted  it.  In 
other  words  he  must  appeal  directly  to  the  senses 
of  his  hearers.  Such  appeal  is  best  made  by  the 
use  of  concrete  details  that  have  come  within  the 
experience  of  the  listeners.  Interest  is  most  read- 
ily gained  by  the  use  of  first-hand,  concrete  de- 
tails ;  in  fact  it  is  difficult  to  arouse  it  in  any  other 

136 


SPEAKING  IN  PUBLIC  137 

way.    Hence  most  entertainment  is  either  narra- 
tive or  descriptive. 

Note;  This  subject  (Interest)  is  discussed  at  length  in  many 
rhetorics.  It  is  admiralily  treated  in  Chapter  II  of  Charles  Sears 
Baldwin's  Compotsition,  Oral  and  Written  (Longmans,  Green  &  Co.). 

182.  To  explain.  This  is  the  purpose  of  ex- 
position. A  classroom  recitation  on  any  subject, 
telling*  how  to  make  something,  how  to  run  a 
machine,  how  to  break  a  horse,  how  to  trim  a 
hat,  how  to  build  a  camp-fire,  how  to  get  from 
one  place  to  another, — such  things  as  these  re- 
quire perfect  clearness.  They  must  be  easily 
understood  to  be  of  value.  If  in  addition  to  being 
made  clear  they  can  also  be  made  interesting, 
their  value  is  doubled,  and  speakers  should  make 
use  of  first-hand,  concrete  details  to  illustrate 
their  expository  matter. 

The  principle  of  clearness  is  more  difficult  to 
carry  out  in  speaking  than  in  writing,  because  an 
audience  has  but  one  chance  to  hear  what  is 
spoken,  whereas  a  reader  may  go  over  what  is 
written  as  many  times  as  necessary  to  understand 
it.  Not  only  should  the  usual  rules  for  clearness 
be  followed,  but  a  speaker  should  study  his  au- 
dience and  by  simplicity  of  statement,  illustra- 
tion, repetition,  re-statement, — ^be  sure  that  what 
he  says  is  understood. 

183.  To  convince.  This  is  the  purpose  of 
argument.  Argument  appeals  to  the  reason  of 
hearers, — to  their  minds.  It  goes  a  step  farther 
than  exposition.  A  statement  may  be  interesting, 
or  it  may  be  perfectly  clear,  and  yet  not  be  con- 


138  AMEBICAN  SPEECH 

vincing.  One  may  be  much  interested  in  a  fam- 
ily of  puppies,  or  in  a  story  about  the  sagacity  of 
a  mother-dog;  he  may  understand  perfectly  the 
peculiarities  of  the  different  kinds  of  dogs  and 
know  how  to  train  them ;  yet  he  may  be  opposed  to 
keeping  a  dog,  perhaps  because  he  is  afraid  of 
rabies.  If  you  want  to  sell  this  person  a  dog,  you 
must  convince  him  that  cases  of  rabies  are  very 
few  in  comparison  to  the  number  of  dogs  living, 
that  rabies  and  the  danger  from  rabies  are  lessen- 
ing, that  the  particular  breed  of  dog  you  wish  him 
to  buy  has  never  been  known  to  have  rabies,  etc., 
etc. 

It  need  hardly  be  said  that  clearness  in  your 
argument  is  absolutely  essential.  Your  customer 
will  not  believe,  will  not  even  listen  to  what  he 
cannot  understand.  Likewise  you  are  much  more 
likely  to  convince  him  that  his  fear  of  rabies  is 
unwarranted  if  he  is  interested  in  what  you  say 
to  him.  So  that  all  three  kinds  of  appeal  may 
properly  and  profitably  be  combined. 

184.  To  induce  action.^  This  is  the  purpose 
of  persuasion.  To  induce  action  is  a  step  farther 
than  to  convince.  If  you  would  have  the  person 
you  are  talking  to  do  what  you  want  him  to,  you 
must  appeal  to  his  will.  He  may  enjoy  what  you 
say,  he  may  understand  every  word,  he  may  be- 
lieve what  you  tell  him,  and  yet  he  may  not  do 
what  you  want  him  to  do.  Most  people  who  hear 
Billy  Sunday  enjoy  him,  they  understand  all  he 

1  This  subject  is  disousspd  at  length  in  Chapter  5ff.  of  Effective 
Spraliing,  by  A.  E.  Phillips  (The  Newtou  Co.),  to  which  the  student  is 
referred. 


SPEAKING  IN  PUBLIC  139 

says,  tliey  may  be  convinced  that  what  he  says  is 
true;  but  if  the  evangelist  appealed  to  his  au- 
diences in  no  other  way  than  these,  his  converts 
would  be  few.  For  example  he  not  only  makes 
clear  that  drinking  is  an  evil  and  convinces  his 
listeners  that  it  is  wrong;  he  touches  their  hearts 
and  induces  them  to  give  up  drinking  and  vote 
and  work  against  liquor  selling. 

The  Subject 

185.  Choosing  a  subject.  The  choice  of  subject 
is  governed  by  three  things: 

1.  The  audience — its  capabilities  and  attitude. 

2.  The  occasion  and  purpose  of  the  speech. 

3.  The  capability  of  the  speaker  and  his  knowl- 
edge of  his  subject. 

186.  The  audience.  There  are  many  differ- 
ent kinds  of  audiences.  It  is  easier  to  find  a 
subject  on  which  to  speak  to  a  class  than  to  find 
one  on  which  to  speak  to  the  whole  school  or  to 
a  commencement  crowd  of  people  of  various  ages. 
For  example  a  class  of  high-school  seniors  study- 
ing Burke's  Speech  on  Conciliation  would  listen 
with  understanding  and  interest  to  an  account  of 
the  effect  of  the  speech  on  American  colonists. 
The  whole  school  might  not  be  able  to  appreciate 
it;  the  larger  audience  would  have  little  interest 
in  it.  A  speaker  should  study  his  audience  and 
try  to  choose  a  subject  which  it  will  understand 
and  be  interested  in. 

187.  The  occasion  helps  in  the  choice  of  sub- 
ject.   A  school  recitation,  a  class  dinner,  a  prayer 


140  AMEBICAN  SPEECH 

meeting,  a  school  assembly,  a  board  of  education 
meeting, — each  needs  a  different  sort  of  subject. 
What  would  make  a  hit  at  a  class  dinner  would 
hardly  be   suitable   for   a   Y.   M.    C.   A.   prayer 
meeting.     Even  if  the  same  general  subject  were 
selected,  the  purpose  of  the  speech  would  require 
a  different  theme  in  each  case.     For  example,  if 
dancing  be  the  general  topic,  the  classroom  dis- 
cussion might  be  of  the  early  purpose  and  style 
of  dancing  as  one  of  the  fine  arts ;  the  school  as- 
sembly might  be  interested  in  a  proposal  to  intro- 
duce instruction  in  f oll^  dancing ;  at  the  class  din- 
ner might  properly  be  discussed  the  desirability 
of  having  a  class  dance ;  in  a  prayer  meeting  the 
moral  effects  of  dancing  in  the  coimnunity  might 
be  considered;  to  the  board  of  education  an  ap- 
peal might  be  made  for  the  use  of  one  of  the 
rooms  in  the  school  house  for  a  dancing  class  or 
a  school  dance. 

188.  The  speaker's  capability  and  knowledge 
should  have  considerable  weight  in  determining 
his  subject.  Theoretically  one  speaks  to  any 
audience  because  he  knows  more  about  the 
subject  than  the  audience  does.  That  is  literally 
so  in  actual  life ;  it  should  be  as  far  as  possible  so 
in  the  practice  work  of  learning  to  speak.  To  be 
effective  a  speaker  should  understand  his  subject 
thoroughly,  he  should  be  interested  in  it,  and  he 
should  be  convinced  that  his  attitude  toward  it  is 
the  right  one.  Any  evidence  of  ignorance,  of  in- 
difference, of  uncertainty  that  appears  in  his 
speech  will  lessen  its  effectiveness. 


SPEAKING  IN  PUBLIC  141 

Every  speaker  will  do  well  to  spend  consider- 
able time  in  selecting  the  subject  on  which  he  is 
to  speak.     He  will  save  time  in  this  way. 

How  TO  Prepare  a  Speech 

189.  Kinds  of  speeches.  In  school  practice 
there  are  two  kinds  ol'  speeches, — (1)  the  memor- 
ized selection,  and  (2)  the  original  speech. 

190.  1.  The  memorized  speech  is  usually  a 
declamation,  a  recitation,  or  a  piece  of  memory 
work.  The  usual  way  to  memorize  a  selection  is 
to  say  the  words  over  and  over  until  they  can  be 
repeated  without  reference  or  prompting.  This 
is  bad  practice.  Such  preparation  begins  at  the 
wrong  end  of  the  task. 

191.  How  to  memorize.  Ordinarily  such  prep- 
aration gets  little  farther  than  the  words  them- 
selves. A  better  preparation  for  a  memorized 
selection  is,  fii'st,  to  read  it  over  to  get  its  general 
meaning;  second,  to  study  the  meaning  of  each 
paragraph  and  its  relation  to  the  whole  selection ; 
then  study  the  meaning  of  each  sentence  in  each 
paragraph  and  its  relation  to  other  sentences  in 
the  paragraph. 

192.  First  practice.  Having  done  this,  a  stu- 
dent can  readily  make  an  outline  or  brief  of  the 
whole  selection.  Let  him  then  attempt  to  speak 
the  selection  in  his  own  words;  he  will  find  ordi- 
narily that  the  words  he  uses'  are  very  nearly 
those  of  the  original.  If  it  is  important  (as  in 
poetry)   that  the  exact  words  of  the  original  be 


142  AMERICAN  SPEECH 

used,  he  will  have  little  trouble  in  committing 
them  to  memory  to  use  in  saying  the  thoughts 
he  has  memorized. 

193.  Thought  and  speaking.  Any  exercise 
which  allows  pupils  merely  to  pronounce  words 
in  a  mechanical,  heedless  way  is  not  only 
valueless,  but  is  positively  harmful.  From 
the  first  the  pupil  should  be  taught  to  think 
the  thoughts  of  the  writer  and  to  express  those 
thoughts  in  the  w^ay  natural  to  the  pupil,  that  is, 
the  way  in  which  he  would  have  said  them  if  they 
had  been  original  with  him.  The  greatest  faults 
in  speaking  memorized  selections  do  not  usually 
come  from  faulty  enunciation  and  pronunciation, 
but  from  failure  to  understand  the  thoughts  read. 

194.  The  speaker's  attitude.  In  preparatory 
practice  the  speaker  should  try  to  consider  him- 
self as  the  originator  of  what  he  is  saying  and 
should  put  himself  in  the  place  of  the  originator. 
For  example  if  a  girl  is  reciting  a  speech  of  Rosa- 
lind's from  As  You  Like  It,  she  should  try  to 
sound  like  Rosalind,  act  like  Rosalind,  be  Rosa- 
lind. A  boy  declaiming  a  part  of  the  Conciliation 
Speech  should  try  to  be  Burke,  and  to  imagine 
himself  speaking  to  Parliament.  In  either  case 
the  student  must  be  alive  to  the  meaning  of  what 
is  said,  to  the  circumstances  in  which  it  is  said,  to 
die  people  to  whom  it  is  said,  and  should  try  to 
make  all  these  evident  to  the  audience. 

195.  Choosing  speeches.  Here  again  the  nature 
of  the  selection  is  important.  It  is  better  that  a 
boy  should  speak  the  kind  of  declamation  that  wiU 


SPEAKING  IN  PUBLIC  143 

let  him  put  himself  in  the  place  of  the  one  who 
first  spoke  it,  which  is  the  kind  of  speaking  he  will 
do  after  he  leaves  school.  Declamatory  effusions, 
like  "Eegulus  to  the  Carthaginians,"  or  ''Sign- 
ing the  Declaration''  ought  to  be  avoided.  So 
should  dramatic  descriptions  like  "The  Death 
Bed  of  Benedict  Arnold,"  "The  Death  of  Por- 
thos,"  etc.  Not  many  boys  are  likely  to  be  called 
upon  to  perform  in  such  fashion  in  actual  life, 
and  their  preparation  might  better  be  along  useful 
lines.  The  direct,  earnest  speeches  of  Lincoln,  of 
Roosevelt,  of  Wood  row  Wilson,  are  far  better 
models  for  boys. 

196.  Drill.  There  is  considerable  difference  of 
opinion  among  instructors  about  drilling  students 
to  speak.  Some  believe  that  imitative  drill  is  all 
wrong;  others  that  it  is  the  quickest  and  surest  way 
of  cultivating  effective  speech  habits.  The  writer 
believes  that  the  imitation  of  a  well  handled  voice 
is  often  most  beneficial  to  a  pupil  with  a  quick 
and  accurate  ear.  If  imitation  will  get  the  thing 
done,  wdiy  not  use  it  ?  It  should  not  be  used,  how- 
ever, alone,  nor  before  the  pupil  has  done  his  part 
of  preparation,  as  above  described ;  except  that  it 
is  frequently  helpful  to  have  the  instructor  read 
aloud  effectively  the  selection  which  the  pupil  is 
to  work  on — to  give  him  a  general  impression  of 
the  whole  selection.  "Parrot  drill"  has  little 
place  in  school  work.  Skillful  questioning,  sug- 
gesting alternative  methods,  opening  a  way  for 
self-criticism,  any  plan  which  will  set  the  pupil 
to  thinking  about  what  he  says  is  better.     Pupils 


144  AMERICAN  SPEECH 

should  be  made  to  hear  their  own  voices  if  pos- 
sible. They  should  be  taught  to  use  an  agreeable 
quality  of  voice;  harsh  or  unnecessarily  loud 
gpeaking  should  be  discouraged;  direct,  earnest, 
natural,  simple  tones  and  inflections  should  be 
cultivated;  that  which  is  bombastic  and  exagger- 
ated should  be  avoided.  ''Animated  conversa- 
tion" perhaps  best  expresses  the  ideal. 

197.  Committee  on  American  speech.  The  fol- 
lowing extract,  from  a  recent  statement  by  the 
Committee  on  American  Speech  appointed  by  the 
National  Council  of  Teachers  of  English,  contains 
useful  suggestions. 

"In  developing  the  school  work  on  voice  and  speech, 
the  following  principles  should  be  kept  in  mind : 

1.  Discourage  speaking  and  singing  of  a  'show' 
character  in  the  schools,  loud  and  elaborate  singing, 
'stunt'  elocutionary  performances,  formal  'contests' 
in  oratory  and  debating.  But  require  moderate  and 
varied  speech,  singing,  and  reading  of  everybody. 

2.  For  most  of  the  pupils  the  positive  instruction 
should  be  gentle,  gradual,  almost  unconscious,  but  con- 
tinuous. In  reading  and  talking,  and  singing  as  well, 
the  attention  should  be  directed  to  the  thought  and  feel-, 
ing  of  the  matter  to  be  expressed,  not  to  the  points  of 
technique. 

3.  Harsh  or  loud  tones  should  be  discouraged,  alike  in 
pupils  and  in  teachers.  It  would  be  a  happy  consum- 
mation if  the  practice  of  'rooting,'  so  hannful  to  the 
voice,  could  be  stopped,  or  lessened,  but  after  all  an 
occasional  vocal  'spree'  of  'rooting'  hurts  the  voice 
less  than  continual  harshness,  whining,  mumbling,  in 
daily  life. 


SPEAKING  IN  PUBLIC  I45 

Give  attention  first  of  all  to  tone — that  it  shall  be 
quiet,  pleasant,  clear — and  to  distinctness ;  then  to  faults 
of  dialect  and  local  usage,  in  utterance  and  pronuncia- 
tion; then  to  variety  of  inflection,  etc.  Especially  try 
to  connect  as  much  as  possible  the  work  in  speech  and 
reading  with  the  work  in  singing. ' ' 

198.  2.  The  original  speech.  There  are  two 
ways  in  which  to  prepare  an  original  speech:  to 
write  it  out  in  full  and  memorize  it,  and  to  plan 
the  speech  and  speak  from  the  plan  without  de- 
termining exactly  what  words  to  use.  There  are 
certain  advantages  in  each  way  which  need  not 
be  here  discussed.  The  first  mentioned  is  prob- 
ably the  easier,  though  for  persons  with  accurate 
memories  and  a  ready  flow  of  words,  the  second 
may  be. 

199.  Material  and  plan.  There  must  in  either 
case  be  plenty  of  material,  and  there  must  be  a 
plan.  In  the  argument  this  plan  is  the  brief,  and 
in  other  forms  of  speaking  the  plan  or  outline 
may  well  follow  tlie  general  scheme  suggested 
for  making  the  brief.     (See  pp.  162,  163.) 

200.  First  practice.  Enough  is  said  about 
gathering  material  and  making  outlines  in  the 
sections  on  Oral  Composition  and  Debate.  We 
will  suppose  these  steps  to  have  been  taken,  and 
that  the  speaker  has  his  material  and  his  plan  be- 
fore him.  What  next?  His  problem  is  to  get  what 
he  has  to  say  into  such  shape  as  to  fit  his  audience, 
— amuse  it,  or  inform  it,  or  convince  it,  or  move 
it.  Here  all  the  art  of  the  writer  should  first  be 
employed.    What  is  to  be  said  should  be  written 


146  AMERICAN  SPEECH 

out  and  reduced  to  the  most  effective  form.  Then 
it  should  be  thrown  away,  and  written  out,  and 
thrown  away  again;  and  the  process  should  be 
repeated  until  the  whole  has  been  fixed  in  mind. 
This  done,  the  speaker  may  practice  his  speech 
orally,  trying  various  wordings  for  their  vocal 
effects,  studying  what  to  make  important,  and 
what  not  to.  He  should  speak  entirely  without 
notes  and  be  perfectly  free  to  use  his  hands,  to 
change  position  on  the  platform,  to  give  his  whole 
attention  to  his  delivery  and  his  audience. 

Note  :  For  a  full  discussion  of  tho  original  speech  the  student  is 
referred  to  Public  Speaking,  pp.  396-457,  by  J.  A.  Winans  (Sewell  Pub. 
Co.). 


CHAPTER  VII 

ORAL  COMPOSITION 

201.  Definition.  Composition  as  used  in  con- 
nection with  Euglisli  teacliing  means  organized 
verbal  expression  of  tliouglit.  Verbal  expression 
may  be  written  or  oral.  For  many  years  most 
high  school  and  college  compositions  have  been 
written.  Recently,  however,  educators  have  come 
to  feel  the  need  of  oral  composition  to  relieve  the 
pressure  of  written  work,  and  to  give  pupils 
greater  speech  skill. 

Written  composition  alone  has  beqn  found  in- 
adequate to  give  pupils  facility  in  self-expression. 
Oral  composition  alone  will  not  teach  pupils  the 
decencies  of  preparing  manuscript.  There  is  gen- 
eral agreement  that  the  two  methods  are  comple- 
mentary and  should  be  used  together.  Just  how 
much  practice  in  expression  should  be  oral  and 
how  much  written  is  yet  open  to  discussion.  The 
writer  believes  that  at  least  twice  as  much  oral 
work  should  be  done  as  written.  The  limits  of 
this  book  permit  no  extensive  discussion  of  oral 
composition,  but  a  general  outline  follows. 

The  plan  recommended  covers  three  successive 
composition  periods.  The  first  day's  work  con- 
sists of  bringing  into  class  and  discussing  mate- 
rial to  be  used;  the  second,  the  presentation  of 

147 


148  AMERICAN  SPEECH 

oral  themes ;  the  third,  writing  out  what  has  been 
prepared  and  presented  orally. 

The  following  will  serve  to  illustrate  this  plan 
of  oral  composition. 

202.     Subject.     Abraham  Lincoln. 

Assignments — (one  to  each  pupil). 

1.  Lincoln's  parentage. 

2.  His  early  home  life  in  Kentucky,  1809-16. 

3.  His  life  in  Indiana,  1830-31. 

4.  His  flat-boating,  1830-31. 

5.  His  life  at  New  Salem,  1831-32. 

6.  The  Black  Hawk  War. 

7.  Lincoln  as  a  storekeeper,  postmaster,  and  deputy  to 
county  surveyor. 

8.  As  Assemblyman. 

9.  Lincoln  studies  law. 

10.  The  Lincoln-Shields  duel. 

11.  As  Congressman  to  1849. 

12.  Practicing  law,  1849-54. 

13.  The  Lincoln-Douglas  Debates. 

14.  The  Presidential  Campaign  of  1860. 

15.  As  president-elect. 

16.  First  inauguration. 

17.  Fort  Sumter. 

18.  Early  period  as  president. 

19.  Lincoln  and  emancipation. 

20.  Lincoln  and  the  soldiers. 

21.  Re-election  in  1864. 

22.  Second  inauguration. 

23.  His  second  administration. 

24.  The  end  of  the  war. 

25.  Lincoln's  death. 

26.  How  a  nation  mourned. 


ORAL  COMPOSITION  149 

27.  What  Lincoln  did  for  America. 

28.  Lincoln's  mastery  of  English. 

Ida  Tarbell's  Life  of  Lincoln  will  furnisli 
material  for  each  of  these  themes. 

203.  Material.  In  an  exercise  like  this  a  topic 
is  given  to  each  pupil  with  an  exact  reference 
directing  him  what  to  read  and  where  to  find  his 
material  to  read.  On  the  first  composition  day 
he  is  ready  to  state  briefly  what  he  has  found,  and 
in  a  few  words  the  teacher  will  indicate  what  he 
is  to  do  with  his  material.  The  pupil  who  is 
assigned  the  first  topic  above — '' Lincoln's  Par- 
entage"— will  bring  into  class  and  present  facts 
somewhat  as  follows : 

Lincoln's  family  came  to  America  from  England.  Set- 
tied  in  Hingham,  Mass.,  in  1635.  One  Samuel  Lincoln 
left  a  large  family, — four  sons  who  became  prominent  in 
colonial  affaire.  Their  descendants  were  mostly  well 
educated  and  prosperous :  Lieutenant  Governor  of 
Massachusetts,  Supreme  Court  Judge,  graduates  of  Har- 
vard and  Williams,  Governor  of  Maine,  Member  of  Gen- 
eral Assembly  in  Pennsvlyania.  Abraham  Lincoln, 
grandfather  of  the  president,  was  a  prosperous  farmer 
in  Virginia.  Sold  out  and  followed  in  the  trail  of  Daniel 
Boone  to  Kentucky.  Shot  and  killed  by  Indians.  Left 
three  children ;  the  j^oungest,  Thomas,  was  the  father  of 
Abraham  Lincoln.  A  good  carpenter,  but  unprogressive 
and  illiterate.  Married  Nancy  Hanks,  a  sweet  tempered, 
beautiful  woman,  the  center  of  country  merry-making, 
and  a  famous  spinner  and  housewife, — a  cousin.  Lived 
at  Elizabethtown,  Ky.  Here  Abraham  Lincoln  was  born, 
February-  12,  1809. 


150  AMEBICAN  SPEECH 

204.  Determining  the  theme.  When  these  facts 
have  been  read  or  told,  the  teacher  by  questioning 
or  by  direction  should  show  the  pupil  what  to 
make  the  central  idea  in  his  theme.  It  may  be  in 
this  case  the  idea  that  Abraham  Lincoln  was  not 
''white  trash"  as  many  suppose,  but  that  he  de- 
scended directly  from  excellent  people  and  that 
the  wonderful  abilities  that  he  later  developed 
may  well  have  been  inherited. 

With  this  (or  some  central  thought)  to  group 
his  ideas  around,  the  pupil  will  then  prepare  a 
speech  of  two  hundred  or  two  hundred  and  fifty 
words  for  the  next  day. 

205.  Oral  presentation.  On  the  second  day 
each  pupil  will  present  his  theme  orally.  Careful 
preparation  in  arranging  material  and  practice  in 
shaping  and  speaking  it  will  enable  him  to  cover 
the  essential  points  in  the  time  given.  When  he 
is  called,  he  should  step  to  the  front  of  the  room, 
face  the  class,  and  talk  directly  and  earnestly  to 
them.  He  should  confine  himself  strictly  to  the 
time  that  is  allotted.  If  he  runs  over  his  time, 
he  should  be  sent  to  his  seat,  even  if  his  theme 
is  not  finished. 

The  second  day's  oral  theme  may  be  something 
like  the  following: 

A  great  many  people  think  that  because  Abraham 
Lincoln  lived  in  a  log  hut  when  he  was  a  boy,  and  read 
by  the  tirelight,  and  did  his  arithmetic  lessons  on  shin- 
gles, he  was  poor  white  trash.  His  father  was  poor — a 
carpenter  in  the  days  when  most  folks  lived  in  log  houses, 
and  there  were  not  many  people  or  houses.    But  the  Lin- 


OltAL  COMPOSITION  151 

coins  of  earlier  times  were  among  the  first  settlers  of 
Massachusetts  and  were  a  well-to-do,  well  educated,  and 
prominent  family.  Among  them  we  find  a  governor,  a 
lieutenant  governor,  a  supreme  court  judge,  members  of 
legislative  bodies,  college  graduates,  professional  men, 
and  prosperous  tradesmen.  They  were  a  mighty  race, 
big  in  body  and  mind.  Nothing  trashy  about  these  men. 
Lincoln 's  grandfather,  after  whom  he  was  named  Abra- 
ham, owned  a  great  deal  of  land  in  Virginia,  which  he 
sold  for  5000  pounds,  so  that  he  could  follow  the  trail 
of  Daniel  Boone  to  Kentucky.  Kecords  show  that  he 
owned  seventeen  hundred  acres  of  land  there,  and  that 
he  had  personal  property  which  at  his  death  was  valued 
at  69  pounds, — a  very  respectable  sum  in  those  days 
when  an  axe  and  a  rifle  were  about  all  a  man  needed. 

On  the  mother's  side  the  Hanks  family  were  little  if 
any  less  prosperous  than  the  Lincolns.  They  came  to 
America  in  1699,  and  old  deeds  show  that  they  were 
o^\Tiers  of  large  tracts  of  land.  Thus  it  will  be  seen  that 
Lincoln  came  of  an  excellent  family. 

206.  Criticism.  Criticisms  of  oral  themes 
should  follow^  immediately  after  the  theme.  They 
should  be  constructive,  although  gross  errors 
should  be  pointed  out  and  corrected.  The  class 
Avill  readily  fm^nish  most  of  this  criticism;  Avhat 
it  omits  can  be  supplied  by  the  teacher. 

207.  The  written  composition.  The  third  day's 
assignment,  the  written  theme,  may  cover  the 
same  ground,  or  it  may  be  longer.  For  this  a 
group  of  four  or  five  may  all  have  the  same  sub- 
ject which  is  based  on  the  material  wdiich  all  four 
or  five  have  used  in  their  oral  themes.  Thus  the 
first  five  topics  on  Lincoln  might  be  combined 


152  AMERICAN  SPEECH 

under  one  title,  ''Lincoln's  Early  Life."  By  close 
attention  in  class  the  principal  facts  to  be  used 
will  be  gathered.  These  papers  should  be  care- 
fully written  outside  and  brought  to  class.  There, 
one  from  each  group  may  be  read  and  commented 
upon.  Later  they  should  be  corrected  in  the  usual 
way. 

208.  Stories.  Later,  a  day  spent  on  Lincoln 
stories  and  anecdotes  will  furnish  material  for 
other  interesting  themes.  These  may  be  told  to 
illustrate  various  characteristics  of  the  great  man 
■ — his  shrewdness,  his  tenderness,  his  wit,  his  de- 
termination, his  love  of  fun,  his  physical  strength, 
etc.,  etc. — two  or  three  anecdotes  by  as  many 
pupils  to  illustrate  each  one. 

209.  Discussion.  After  this  a  debate  on  some 
question  suggested  by  the  reading  and  discussion 
can  be  planned.  For  example.  Was  Lincoln  right 
in  issuing  the  Emancipation  Proclamation?  Was 
Lincoln  right  in  holding  that  no  state  can  exist 
part  slave  and  part  free?  Did  Lincoln  treat 
McClellan  fairly? 

210.  Description.  Lincoln's  cabinet  might  next 
be  described,  two  or  three  pupils  taking  each 
member.  Each  should  take  a  different  part,  one 
a  description  of  the  appearance  and  personality 
of  the  man,  another  his  work  in  the  cabinet,  a 
third  his  relations  with  Lincoln,  or  Lincoln's  opin- 
ion of  him  as  illustrated  by  an  incident  or  story. 

211.  Other  topics.  All  this  about  Lincoln  is 
given  to  illustrate  how  a  subject  may  be  handled 
and  how  the  same  material  mav  be  used  for  a 


OBAL  COMPOSITION  153 

variety  of  purposes.  The  same  sort  of  exercises 
may  be  devised  for  any  sort  of  subject:  farming, 
football,  the  question  of  woman's  voting,  moving 
pictures,  Robert  Louis  Stevenson,  dancing,  An- 
drew Carnegie,  the  theater  of  Shakespeare's  day, 
my  favorite  book.  There  is  no  end  of  subjects 
which  readily  lend  themselves  to  oral  and  written 
treatment  and  which  furnish  practice  in  the 
various  kinds  of  writing. 


CHAPTER  Vin 

ARGUMENT 

212.  Kinds  of  argument.  One  of  the  best  forms 
of  oral  practice  for  liigii  school  pupils  is  the  dis- 
cussion pro  and  con  of  unsettled  questions.  Such 
discussion  may  be  informal,  without  definite  plan 
or  set  rules ;  or  it  may  be  formal,  a  regular  game 
with  fixed  rules,  like  tennis  or  baseball.  The  lat- 
ter is  debate,  for  debate  is  an  intellectual  contest, 
the  scheme  and  rules  of  which  are  clearly  defined 
and  established,  and  to  be  followed  strictly. 

Informal  discussions  arise  constantly.  They 
are  ordinarily  the  result  of  personal  differences 
of  opinion,  and  when  they  merely  express  such 
differences  they  are  of  slight  value,  for  they  are 
not  much  more  than  contradicting  matches.  In 
informal  discussions  pupils  should  be  taught  al- 
ways to  state  the  facts  that  have  led  them  to  form 
their  opinions. 

213.  Choosing"  subjects  for  informal  discussion. 
In  the  following  topics  for  informal  discussions 
let  the  facts  be  given  to  support  each  side. 

1.  Was  Eppie  right  in  refusing  to  leave  Silas 
Marner  to  go  to  Godfrey  and  Nancy  Cass? 

2.  Was  there  any  justification  for  Jessica 's  run- 
ning otf  with  Lorenzo? 

3.  Does  Shylock  deserve  to  be  pitied? 

4.  Did  Ivanhoe  treat  Rebecca  as  he  should  have 
treated  her? 

5.  Is  the  story  of  Ivanhoe  improbable? 

154 


AEGUMENT  155 

6.  Can  the  murder  of  Caesar  be  justified? 

7.  Was  Brutus  an  honorable  man! 

8.  Was  Brutus  a  better  man  than  Caesar? 

9.  Should  John  Alden  have  spoken  for  himself  ? 

Such  topics  as  these  may  come  up  for  discus- 
sion in  any  class.  They  can  be  a  sheer  waste  of 
time,  or  they  can  be  very  profitable.  If  the  clash- 
ing opinions  are  carefully  analyzed,  and  reasons 
found  for  them  and  stated  with  a  proper  regard 
for  the  decencies  of  speech,  informal  discussions 
like  these  are  to  be  encouraged.  It  is  hardly 
worth  while  to  attempt  a  formal  debate  of  such 
topics,  because  the  available  facts  are  few  and 
usually  not  evenly  balanced  between  the  two  sides. 

Debate 

214.  Some  rules  of  formal  debate.  As  has  been 
stated,  debate  is  an  intellectual  game,  like  a  spell- 
ing match,  and  it  should  be  played  strictly  accord- 
ing to  rules. 

Rule  1.  There  should  be  a  proposition  with  two 
fairly  well-balanced  sides. 

Rule  2.  The  proposition  should  be  so  stated  and 
the  meaning  of  the  words  in  it  so  defined  that 
there  can  be  no  question  as  to  what  it  means. 

Rule  3.  The  sides  should  agree  not  to  discuss 
matters  that  do  not  bear  directly  upon  the  subject. 

Rule  4.  The  sides  should  join  issue;  that  is  they 
should  discuss  the  same  phases  of  the  proposition. 

Rule  5.  The  debaters  should  deal  with  facts, 
for,  so  far  as  material  is  concerned,  nothing  but 
facts  are  of  value  in  debate. 


156  AMERICAN  SPEECH 

215.  1.  The  proposition,  a.  It  should  be  debat- 
able. 

To  be  debatable  a  proposition — 

1.  Must  have  two  sides  that  are  evenly  balanced. 
If  one  side  is  much  stronger  than  the  other,  there 
can  be  no  debate.  For  example:  Resolved,  that 
drinking  whisky  injures  a  person's  health,  is  hard- 
ly debatable  in  these  days  of  scientific  research. 
One  would  scarcely  defend  whisky-drinking  on 
the  ground  of  its  preserving  health,  or  even  on  the 
negative  ground  of  its  not  injuring  health. 

2.  Must  be  stated  clearly,  simply,  affirmatively, 
and  so  that  the  real  question  at  issue  will  be  dis- 
cussed rather  than  the  meaning  of  one  of  the 
words  used  in  stating  it.  For  example:  For 
and  against  equal  suffrage  or  Women  should 
he  given  the  vote  are  better  statements  than 
Women  should  have  the  right  to  vote  in  all  elec- 
tions. Under  the  last  statement  might  arise  a 
discussion  as  to  whether  voting  is  a  ''right,"  and 
also  as  to  whether  anyone  could  vote  or  would 
want  to  vote  in  all  elections. 

3.  Must  throw  the  burden  of  proof  on  the  af- 
firmative. He  who  asserts  must  prove,  and  as- 
sertions that  need  proof  are  ordinarily  made 
against  existing  conditions  or  general  belief. 

4.  Must  be  not  too  difficult  nor  too  broad  for 
beginners,  and  it  will  be  better  if  it  can  be  within 
their  own  interests  and  experience.  For  example : 
it  is  better  for  high  school  students  to  study  and 
discuss  the  advisability  of  building  a  new  school- 
house,  abolishing  mid-year  examinations,  omitting 


ARGUMENT  157 

the  annual  speeches  of  students  at  graduation,  or 
some  other  similar  subject  within  their  powers, 
than  to  undertake  the  tariff  or  the  income  tax  or 
the  independence  of  the  Philippines.  Such  sub- 
jects as  the  last  named  may  do  for  inter-school 
debates  upon  which  weeks  of  preparation  are 
spent,  but  not  for  classroom  practice.  Local  elec- 
tions, school  meeting,  town  meeting,  civic  matters, 
the  building  of  public  buildings  or  public  roads, 
bridges,  parks,  etc.,  are  suitable  for  high  school 
debate. 

Material 

216.  Studying  both  sides.  A  mistake  often 
made  by  debaters  is  to  gather  material  only  on 
their  side  of  the  proposition.  No  practice  is  more 
detrimental  to  debating.  One  cannot  debate  well 
unless  he  is  well  informed  about  the  proposition, 
and  that  means  both  sides  of  the  proposition.  The 
question  cannot  be  properly  analyzed,  issues  can- 
not be  correctly  determined,  rebuttal  cannot  be 
planned,  unless  both  sides  are  understood.  It  is 
not  how  good  a  tennis  player  you  are  that  wins 
games  for  you;  it  is  how  good  a  player  you  are 
as  compared  with  your  various  opponents.  So, 
you  mav  have  in  a  debate  what  vou  think  is  a 
good  argument,  but  it  may  be  worthless  in  the 
light  of  what  your  opponent  has  to  say.  You 
cannot  know  of  its  weakness  unless  you  know 
what  is  likely  to  be  said  against  it,  and  if  you  do 
not  know  you  cannot  strengthen  your  argument. 

Hence,  read  everything  you  can  about  the  prop- 
osition you  are  debating. 


158  AMEBICAN  SPEECH 

217.  Gathering  material.  Where  to  get  mate- 
rial depends  on  the  nature  of  the  question  to  be 
debated.  The  first  and  most  important  lesson  to  be 
learned  is  that  nothing  but  facts,  accurately  stated, 
are  of  any  great  value.  What  a  debater  himself 
thinks,  or  what  anyone  else  thinks,  matters  very 
little  unless  the  facts  on  which  his  opinion  is  based 
are  known  and  stated,  and  the  more  facts,  the  bet- 
ter. Matters  of  local  interest  require  local  inves- 
tigation— the  local  papers,  addresses,  interviews 
with  persons  directly  connected  with  public  affairs, 
public  records,  reports  of  officials,  and  the  like. 
For  example,  if  the  debate  is  on  the  proposal  to 
build  a  new  schoolhouse,  all  the  facts  connected 
with  the  present  school  are  important — the  con- 
dition of  the  building,  the  number  of  pupils,  the 
equipment,  the  effect  of  the  school  building  and 
its  equipment  on  the  pupils'  comfort,  con- 
venience, promotion,  examinations,  leaving  school ; 
a  comparison  of  your  school,  its  conditions  and  re- 
sults, with  other  schools — some  better,  some 
worse ;  your  school  and  its  work  as  related  to  the 
educational  policies  of  the  state  department;  the 
cost  of  erecting  and  maintaining  a  new  school  as 
compared  with  the  old,  the  tax-rate  and  the  prob- 
able increase,  possible  raethods  of  meeting  the 
cost,  the  ability  of  the  community  to  do  it,  the 
effect  on  the  community  of  the  old  school  and  the 
possible  effect  of  the  new  one;  the  opinion  and 
advice  of  the  state  officials,  of  members  of  the 
board  of  education,  of  superintendent,  principal, 
and  teachers,  of  alumni,  of  former  school  officials, 


ABGUMENT  159 

of  prominent  citizens;  possible  alterations  in  the 
old  building  to  correct  present  defects,  and  tlie 
comparative  cost;  other  local  matters  of  greater 
importance  that  need  attention;  e.  g.  water,  sew- 
ers, fire  protection. 

218.  Sources.  Whenever  first-hand  information 
from  original  sources  is  available,  it  should  be 
gathered ;  but  in  many  propositions  such  informa- 
tion cannot  be  had.  Then  debaters  must  rely  on 
reading  for  their  material,  and  the  usual  books  of 
reference — encyclopedias,  books  on  the  subject, 
magazines,  congressional  and  other  records,  news- 
paper almanacs,  reports  of  debates,  newspapers — 
all  must  be  searched  for  material.  The  debater 
should  understand  from  the  beginning  that  it  is 
not  important  what  view  an  article  takes  of  the 
matter  under  discussion.  It  need  not  be  in  sup- 
port of  his  side  of  the  controversy ;  in  fact,  oppo- 
site opinion  is  of  the  greater  value,  in  a  way,  for 
it  indicates  what  the  opponents  mil  attempt  to 
prove  and  thus  helps  you  to  meet  their  arguments. 
It  shows  you  how  opponents  will  meet  your  argu- 
ments and  thus  informs  you  as  to  which  of  your 
arguments  they  are  most  afraid,  and  it  likewise 
shows  the  Aveak  places  in  your  argument.  The  de- 
bater who  gets  into  a  debate  with  only  his  own 
argument  prepared  is  like  a  boxer  attempting  to 
spar  with  one  hand,  and  just  about  as  effective. 

Som_e  state  and  city  libraries  will  collect  and 
furnish  material  for  debate  subjects.  Debaters 
should  make  use  of  such  opportunities  because  of 
the  time  saved. 


160  AMEBIC  AN  SPEECH 

219.  Things  to  avoid.  The  greatest  detriment 
to  the  work  of  debate  is  the  ready-made  brief  and 
argument.  These  should  be  kept  out  of  libraries 
and  away  from  young  debaters,  because  at  best 
they  furnish  only  third-liand  material  and  they 
deprive  them  of  one  of  the  greatest  benefits  of  the 
debating — original  investigation. 

Handling  Material 

220.  Briefing.  The  handiest  way  to  record 
material  is  on  small  cards — one  fact,  with  the 
source  from  which  it  came,  on  each  card. 


Need  of  New  Building 

Ventilation 

It  is  not 

possible  to 

ventilate  the 

building  as 

it  is,  nor  to  install  a  suit- 

able  system 

of  ventilation  in  it. 

Report  of 

Engineer  X. 

Y.   Smith  to 

Board  of  Education. 

Letter, 

June  6,  1916. 

221.  Determining  issues.  When  the  reading  is 
done  and  the  cards  filled  out,  they  should  be  sorted 
so  that  all  facts  bearing  on  a  topic  are  together. 
Part  of  these  will  be  affirmative  and  part  nega- 
tive on  the  various  divisions  of  the  subject. 
Wherever  there  are  several  opposing  items,  there 
is  a  clash  of  opinion  between  the  two  sides,  and 
the  result  is  what  is  technically  known  as  an  issue. 
If  the  ground  has  been  thoroughly  covered  there 
will   be   several    such   issues.      For   example,    in 


ARGUMENT  161 

gathering  material  on  the  proposal  to  build  a  new 
sclioolhouse,  you  will  find  that  opinions  and  facts 
may  differ  as  to  the  need  of  a  new  building;  that, 
then,  becomes  an  issue.  Other  issues  may  arise 
as  to  whether  the  community  can  afford  it  or  not, 
whether  the  present  time  is  the  best  in  which  to 
build,  or  whether  other  matters  should  first  be 
attended  to,  and  so  on.  Wherever  material  gath- 
ered shoivs  divergent  opinions,  there  is  an  issue. 

222.  Arranging  material.  After  issues  are  de- 
termined, comes  the  arrangement  of  material  in 
support  of  your  side  of  each  issue.  Such  an  ar- 
rangement is  made  by  taking  the  material  from 
the  cards  and  writing  it  in  the  form  of  an  outline, 
or  brief,  on  theme  paper.  The  following  method 
is  simple  and  useful: 

1.  Statement  of  proposition. 

2.  Defining  terms  and  restating  proposition  in 
terms  of  the  definitions  given. 

3.  Excluding  all  admitted  or  extraneous  items. 

4.  Statement  of  issues  resulting  from  clash  of 
opinion. 

(These  may  be  omitted  in  the  negative  brief.) 

5.  Proof  for  affirmative. 

a.  First  issue  with  its  proof. 

b.  Second  issue  with  its  proof. 
And  so  on  until  all  issues  are  covered. 

223.  The  brief.  Here  is  a  simple  and  practical 
way  of  making  the  body  of  the  brief: 

Affirmative  Peoof 

A.  There  is  need  of  a  neiv  schoolhouse  (first 
issue). 


162 


AMERICAN  SPEECH 


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164  AMERICAN  SPEECH 

Thus  one  issue  is  briefed.  Then  should  follow 
the  second,  and  third,  and  so  on  until  all  are  cov- 
ered. Rebuttal  matter  may  come  at  the  end  of 
the  brief  of  each  issue,  and  be  arranged  in  the 
same  way. 

224.  Summary.  When  all  issues  have  been 
briefed,  a  summary  may  be  added  which  will  re- 
capitulate briefly  what  has  been  proved.  If  in  a 
debate  there  are  two  or  more  speakers,  it  is  well 
for  each  speaker  to  summarize  all  that  has  been 
proved  by  his  side,  the  first  speaker  summarizing 
his  own  arguments,  the  second  the  first  speaker's 
and  his  own,  and  so  on.  This  keeps  the  whole 
plan  of  proof  before  the  audience. 

225.  Preparing  the  speech.  The  actual  de- 
bate as  it  is  to  be  delivered  should  never  be  writ- 
ten out  and  memorized.  The  ability  to  fix  the 
plan  of  a  speech  in  mind  and  to  speak  extem- 
poraneously from  it  is  one  of  the  greatest  benefits 
to  be  derived  from  debating.  Written  debate  can- 
cels this  benefit.  The  issues  should  be  memorized, 
the  assertions  to  be  proved  should  be  memorized, 
the  facts  to  substantiate  each  assertion  should  be 
memorized,  the  authority  for  each  fact  should  be 
memorized — so  that  the  debater  can  readily  think 
through  what  he  is  to  say;  but  memory  work 
should  stop  there. 

Nevertheless,  the  delivery  of  the  speech  should 
be  practiced  sufficiently  to  enable  the  debater  to 
think  on  his  feet  and  go  through  his  argument 
readily  and  without  hesitation.  However,  his  at- 
tention should  be  on  his  thought  and  how  to  ex- 


ARGUMENT  165 

press  it  to  Ms  audience,  rather  tlian  on  his  words. 
Anything  that  savors  of  glibness  and  over-pre- 
paredness in  a  debate  detracts  from  its  effective- 
ness. Debating  is  a  thinking,  a  reasoning  process 
— not  an  exhibition  of  memorized  forensics  with 
oratorical  or  rhetorical  elaborations. 

Moreover,  notes  should  not  be  used  in  debate  if 
the  best  results  are  to  be  obtained.  The  speak- 
er's attention  cannot  be  divided  between  his  au- 
dience and  his  notes  if  he  expects  to  hold  the  at- 
tention of  his  audience.  There  is  no  serious  ob- 
jection to  the  use  in  rebuttal  of  brief  reminders 
of  points  made  during  the  debate,  but  the  reading 
of  cards  or  evidence  of  any  sort  is  not  debating, 
either  in  advance  speeches  or  in  rebuttal.  It  may 
be  useful  in  some  English  classes,  but  it  is  not  de- 
hating. 

226.  Rebuttal.  Each  debater  should  pay  par- 
ticular attention  to  the  opponent  in  the  position 
similar  to  his  own,  for  to  a  certain  extent  the 
two  are  paired.  Then,  for  example,  the  second 
affirmative  speaker  should  attend  strictly  to  the 
second  negative  and  should  be  responsible  for  the 
rebuttal  of  the  argiunents  of  the  second  nega- 
tive. Of  course,  he  need  not  be  limited  rigidly  to 
these,  but  they  should  receive  his  first  attention. 

Rebuttal  should  try  to  overthrow  important 
items  and  not  waste  time  on  little  things.  Care- 
ful analysis  will  show  that  an  opponent's  argu- 
ments rest  largely  on  a  few  fundamental  infer- 
ences or  items  of  proof.  Try  to  show  the  inac- 
curacy or  incompetence  of  these. 


166  AMERICAN  SPEECH 

On  the  Floor 

227.  Order  of  speakers.  Debates  are  usually 
presented  by  four  (or  six)  speakers,  two  (or 
three)  speakers  on  each  side,  each  speaking  twice, 
once  in  advance  argument  and  once  in  rebuttal. 
The  order  in  advance  speeches  is 

First  affirmative 

First  negative 
Second  affirmative 

Second  negative 

In  rebuttal  the  order  of  sides  may  be  reversed, 
thus: 

First  negative 

First  affirmative 
Second  negative 

Second  affirmative 
so  that  the  affirmative  may  have  the  last  rebuttal 
speech.     This  in  part  offsets  the  time  necessarily 
taken  by  the  first  affirmative  speaker  in  presenting 
the  introductory  matter. 

228.  Time.  In  a  forty-five  minute  period,  four 
speakers  maj^  be  allowed  five  minutes  each  for 
advance  speeches  and  three  for  rebuttal.  This 
will  leave  a  few  minutes  at  the  close  of  the  debate 
for  comment  by  the  teacher  and  critics  in  the 
audience,  if  any  have  been  named.  Longer  periods 
make  possible  longer  speeches,  or  more  debaters. 

229.  First  affirmative.  The  first  affirmative 
speaker  must  make  plain  what  the  proposition 
means,  furnish  any  necessary  explanation  as  to 


ARGUMENT  167 

why  it  is  to  be  debated,  outline  the  plan  of  attack, 
and  attempt  to  win  the  sympathy  of  the  audience 
to  his  side.  Sometimes  where  a  proposition  re- 
quires considerable  introduction  the  first  speaker 
finds  little  time  for  constructive  argument.  He 
must  be  careful,  however,  not  to  spend  time  .on 
useless  introduction.  Preliminary  matter  that 
does  not  help  to  make  the  subject  of  discussion 
clear,  or  outline  the  plan  of  debate,  or  win  the 
approval  of  the  audience  should  be  omitted,  no 
matter  how  interesting  it  may  be. 

230.  First  negative.  The  first  negative  speaker 
sometimes  finds  it  necessary  to  discuss  the  intro- 
duction of  the  affirmative,  especially  if  he  thinks 
that  introduction  is  inaccurate  or  biased.  Ordi- 
narily, however,  he  can  proceed  at  once  to  a  dis- 
cussion of  the  first  issue  of  the  debate. 

The  first  two  speakers  should  between  them 
make  the  audience  understand  exactly  what  is  to 
be  discussed,  and  how  it  is  to  be  discussed. 

231.  Other  speakers.  The  second  speaker  on 
each  side  should  proceed  with  the  constructive 
argument  where  the  first  speaker  left  it.  It  is  not 
a  bad  practice  for  each  to  summarize  briefly  what 
the  colleague  preceding  him  has  attempted  to 
prove.  If  there  are  but  two  speakers  on  a  side, 
the  second  speaker  should  summarize  at  the  close 
of  his  debate  all  that  his  side  has  proved.  If 
there  are  three  debaters  on  a  side  this  may  be 
left  to  the  last  speaker. 

232.  Formalities.  Strict  parliamentary  prac- 
■tice  should  be  followed.    Each  debater  should  ad- 


168  AMEBICAN  SPEECH 

dress  the  chairman,  "Mr.  Chairman"  or  "Madam 
Chairman,"  and  the  audience,  "Gentlemen"  or 
"Ladies  and  Gentlemen"  when  he  begins.  Names 
of  opponents  or  of  colleagues  should  not  be  used, 
nor  should  personal  pronouns  take  the  place  of 
names  in  referring  to  other  debaters.  Instead  say, 
' '  The  first  negative  speaker  "  or  "  My  opponent ' ' 
or  ' '  The  speaker  who  preceded  me, "  "  The  gentle- 
men of  the  negative,"  etc. 

233.  The  gavel.  For  the  convenience  of  the 
debaters,  particularly  of  rebuttal  speakers,  it  is 
helpful  for  the  presiding  officer  (the  teacher  or 
the  chairman)  to  sound  a  warning  one  or  two 
minutes  before  the  close  of  each  speech.  Of  course, 
a  final  single  stroke  of  the  gavel  is  the  signal  that 
the  time  is  up,  and  when  it  is  given  the  speaker 
should  stop  promptly.  No  speaker  should  be  per- 
mitted to  encroach  upon  the  time  of  another. 

After  the  Debate 

234.  Criticism.  Criticism  should  be  directed 
to  these  things: 

1.  Material. 

2.  Organization  of  material. 

3.  Manner  of  presentation. 

The  practice  of  having  class  criticism  is  use- 
ful in  compelling  attention  to  the  debate,  and 
a  class  usually  points  out  most  of  the  good  and 
bad  features  of  a  debate.  Those  that  are  neglected 
can  be  added  by  the  teacher.  Comment  should  be 
both  commendatory  and  adverse. 


ARGUMENT  169 

235.  Don'ts  for  debaters.  1.  Don't  shuffle  when 
you  go  before  your  audience. 

2.  Don 't  forget  to  address  the  chairman  and  the 
audience. 

3.  Don't  look  at  the  floor,  nor  out  the  window, 
nor  over  the  heads  of  your  audience.  Look  into 
their  eyes. 

4.  Don't  forget  that  while  you  have  studied  the 
question  and  know  much  more  about  it  than  you 
can  tell  in  your  time,  the  audience  knows  little  or 
nothing  about  it.    Be  perfectly  clear. 

5.  Don't  just  talk  to  anyone.  Talk  to  your  au- 
dience earnestly. 

6.  Don 't  lean  against  anything.    Stand  straight. 

7.  Don't  put  your  hands  into  your  pockets,  nor 
behind  you,  nor  try  to  hide  them  any^vhere.  Use 
them. 

8.  Don't  fail  to  show  your  o^\^l  interest  in  what 
you  are  saying.  You  cannot  expect  your  audience 
to  be  interested  if  you  yourself  do  not  appear  in- 
terested. Voice,  body,  hands,  arms,  face — all  of 
you  should  show  interest  if  you  feel  it — and  you 
cannot  debate  well  unless  you  do. 

9.  Don't  try  to  make  your  audience  think  that 
your  side  is  the  only  side  in  the  debate.  No  de- 
bate is  possible  unless  the  proposition  debated  has 
two  strong  sides.  Try  to  convey  the  impression 
that  you  realize  the  strength  of  your  opponents, 
but  show  your  own  strength  to  be  even  greater. 
It  is  more  to  your  credit  to  whip  a  big,  hulking 
fellow  than  a  little,  weak  one. 

10.  Don't  indulge  in  personalities. 


170  AMEBICAN  SPEECH 

11.  Don't  introduce  constructive  argnment  into 
rebuttal  speeches. 

12.  Don't  rebut  arguments  that  your  opponents 
have  not  advanced. 

13.  Don't  include  in  your  sunmiary  anything 
that  you  have  not  brought  out  in  your  advance 
speech. 

14.  Don't  forget  that  final  impressions  are  last- 
ing in  debate.  Put  your  best  arguments  last  and 
hammer  them  home.  Make  your  summary  as  clear 
and  effective  as  possible. 


CHAPTER  IX 
SELECTIONS  FOR  PRACTICE 

236.  The  Derelict 

Drifting  about  in  the  lower  East  Side  in  New  York,  is 
a  human  derelict  known  to  the  children  of  the  streets  as 
' '  Andy. ' '  They  know  him  only  as  an  old  sailor  who  is 
down  and  out — so  down  that  he  scrubs  the  hallways  of 
a  foul  tenement  for  one  dollar  a  week  and  board  that 
many  a  dog  would  not  touch.  His  "bedroom"  is  so 
disreputable  that  he  often  sleeps  by  preference  in  the 
Park  or  in  a  hallway. 

But  "Andy"  is  neither  a  bum  nor  a  beggar.  He 
stands  erect  upon  his  feet,  in  spite  of  his  seventy-three 
years,  and  looks  every  man  squarely  in  the  eye  when  he 
talks,  and  there  is  no  whine  in  his  voice.  And  if  any 
citizen  of  the  East  Side  is  looking  for  a  fight,  an  insult 
to  "Andy"  will  quickly  bring  it. 

For  "Andy"  is  not  only  a  sailor — he  is  a  veteran  of 
the  American  navy.  He  knew  Admiral  Dewey  when  he 
was  Commodore  Dewey;  and  "Andy"  was  quartermas- 
ter on  the  Olympia  and  had  charge  of  the  steering  of  the 
battleship  when  it  crept  into  Manila  Bay.  He  left  the 
Olympia-  only  when  the  ship  went  out  of  commission, 
after  Admiral  Dewey's  triumphal  return — and  soon 
thereafter  the  old  quartermaster  was  put  out  of  com- 
mission. 

The  circumstances  do  not  matter  greatly.  He  got 
drunk  and  into  trouble  with  an  officer;  and  with  a  dis- 

171 


172  AMERICAN  SPEECH 

honorable  discharge  he  had  to  leave  the  navy  in  which 
he  had  served  with  credit  for  nearly  thirty  years. 

It  is  "Andy's"  misfortune  that  he  became  a  hero  too 
late;  he  is  not  a  veteran  of  the  Civil  War.  Had  he 
served  for  only  a  few  weeks  in  some  Union  regiment  that 
never  got  to  the  front;  had  he  been  even  a  bounty- 
jumper  or  a  deserter,  he  would  have  a  chance  by  special 
pension-act  to  receive  a  regular  pension  from  a  grateful 
country. 

But  "Andy"  is  only  one  of  the  heroes  of  Dewey's 
fight  in  Manila  Bay,  and  he  has  a  "bob-tailed"  discharge 
because  he  hit  a  superior  officer. 


237.  Houses  of  Moloch 

No  buildings  are  more  prosaic  than  the  New  York  city 
lofts.  Among  shops,  hotels,  and  office  towers,  they  loom 
up  square-cornered,  grilled  with  windows,  commercial 
and  ugly.  Nearly  every  story  houses  a  factory.  The 
building,  before  you  fill  it  with  paper  boxes,  celluloid, 
and  such  things,  is  absolutely  fireproof. 

Early  in  April,  1911,  sightseers  left  Washington 
Square  with  its  rows  of  historic  houses  and  its  great 
white  arch  from  which  the  Avenue  'busses  take  their 
stately  way  uptown,  to  walk  a  short  block  eastward. 
There,  hidden  behind  a  more  pretentious  building,  rose 
a  ten-story  loft.  The  glass  had  been  smashed  out  of  its 
ninth  and  tenth  story  windows,  and  their  frames  were 
blackened.  A  sign  at  the  corner  of  the  building  looked 
charred.  Below,  planks  covered  holes  in  the  thick  vault- 
lights  of  the  sidewalk.  That  was  all.  A  perfectly  good 
loft,  slightly  damaged  by  fire,  which  the  owner,  if  he 
could,  would  certainly  have  sold  cheap.  Not  an  inspir- 
ing goal  for  sightseers. 


SELECTIONS  FOB  PRACTICE  I73 

But  a  few  days  earlier,  in  the  twilight  hour  of  a  Sat- 
urday afternoon — the  kindly  hour  when  working  folk  go 
home  to  their  day  of  rest — the  two  uppermost  stories  of 
that  loft  in  Washington  Place  had  turned  into  a  red  fur- 
nace choked  with  struggling  humanity.  Little  trace  of 
those  ravening  fires  remained  on  the  exterior  to  gratify 
a  sightseer's  curiosity.  Even  during  the  moments  of  the 
tragedy,  no  stupendous  spectacle  was  visible  outside. 
Oidy  smoke,  and  a  glow  behind  the  windowpanes ;  a  few 
frantic  figures  crawling  out  on  the  stone  ledges.  .  .  . 

Next  day  scientists  were  quoted.  The  scientists  said 
that  an  object  weighing,  say,  120  pounds,  if  dropped  ten 
tall  stories,  would  land  with  some  three  tons'  impact. 
This  explained  why  sightseers  found  planks  over  holes 
in  the  sidewalk,  also  why  sightseers  found  a  New  York 
loft  worth  seeing. 

"Words  are  so  cold,  compared  w^th  living  facts!  We 
skim  our  newspapers  over  and  throw  them  away,  and  the 
things  they  print  are  speedily  lost  to  mind.  After  the 
Triangle  fire,  the  newspapers  told  vividly  of  the  "long 
rows  of  coffined  dead"  in  the  temporary  morgue.  That 
day  the  city  shuddered.  A  futile  trial  for  manslaugiiter 
followed.  Then  New  York  went  about  its  business  again. 
Within  a  year  the  horror  was  forgotten. 

But  the  few  who  on  the  Sunday  morning  after  had  to 
walk  throvigh  the  sullen  East  Side  avenues,  empty  except 
for  an  endless,  sobbing,  shuffling  line  on  its  way  to  view 
the  dead,  and  out  upon  the  covered  pier,  among  charred 
and  broken  things  which  had  been  young  girls  overnight, 
before  Hell  rose  up  in  the  lofts — they,  at  least,  will  not 
forget.  Perhaps  some  day  one  of  them  will  see  to  it  that 
New  York's  building  laws  and  building  inspectors  are 
wrenched  out  of  the  clutch  of  Tammany  Hall,  and  made 
the  things  they  should  be. 


174  AMERICAN  SPEECH 

Even  that  will  not  undo  the  work  of  twenty  minutes 
in  the  house  of  Moloch,  and  give  back  to  a  hundred  and 
forty  East  Side  girls  their  pitiful  chance  in  life. 


238.  A  Galilean  Vagabond 

In  France  religion  does  not  count  for  much.  It  is 
hardly  worth  referring  to,  except  incidentally,  by  way 
of  illustrative  allusion,  as  when  in  a  public  address  the 
other  day  a  member  of  the  French  Cabinet  happened  to 
refer  to  Jesus  as  "that  Galilean  vagabond." 

To  the  mind  of  this  French  statesman,  to  be  a  respecta- 
ble man  Jesus  should  have  remained  shut  up  to  a  car- 
penter's trade  in  Nazareth.  He  should  have  contented 
himself  to  hew  boards,  dowel  benches  and  tables,  put 
roofs  on  houses,  and  thus  be  a  decent  and  respectable 
member  of  society,  adding  to  its  physical  comfort  and 
wealth.  Instead  of  that  he  threw  away  the  chance  of  a 
profitable  life,  gave  up  his  home  and  trade,  and  became 
a  wanderer,  a  vagabond,  a  leader  of  a  company  of  stroll- 
ing tramps,  dependent  on  charity,  less  securely  housed 
than  the  foxes  and  birds  of  the  air.  His  was  not  a  life 
of  good  repute.    He  lived  a  vagabond  in  Galilee. 

The  boards  have  rotted  to  dust,  the  benches  are  burned, 
the  tables  are  perished,  houses  and  roofs  are  sunk  into 
decay,  the  little  wealth  which  His  brothers  made  in 
Joseph 's  shop  with  hammer  and  saw  has  vanished ;  yet 
somehow  the  Galilean  vagabondage  is  the  world 's  dearest 
story,  its  richest  memory.  He  trudged  from  town  to 
town  with  his  retinue  of  enthusiasts,  and  talked  about 
nothing  more  substantial  than  God  and  Heaven  and 
common  goodness.  He  took  no  fee,  got  no  riches,  fed 
on  the  bread  and  water  of  charity,  and  talked,  talked, 
talked  of  the  Father  in  heaven.     He   consorted  with 


SELECTIOJ^S  FOB  PRACTICE  175 

common  people  and  said  impudent  things  about  rich 
men — and  they  killed  Him  and  that  was  the  end  of  Him. 

The  end  of  Him!  What  mean  the  Cathedrals  of 
France  ?  What  the  civilization  we  call  Christian  ?  What 
is  Christendom  but  the  current  voice  of  all  that  is  great 
and  good — rich  and  powerful — humble  and  simple  and 
poor — resounding  to  crown  a  vagabond  Lord  and  Master  ? 

Neither  material  things,  nor  the  carpenter's  trade,  nor 
the  goldsmith's  art,  nor  the  bookman's  craft,  nor  the 
statesman's  devotion  has  made  the  world  great.  Worth 
and  wealth  are  of  the  spirit  and  the  vagrant  sandaled 
steps  that  traversed  the  byways  of  Galilee  trod  out  a 
golden  track  through  the  golden  grain,  and  along  a 
dolorous  road,  past  a  cross-crowned  mountain,  until  the 
byway  became  a  highway  and  spread  wide  over  the  coun- 
tries and  broad  over  the  lands.  And  w^hy?  Because 
value  is  of  the  spirit, — not  of  metal,  nor  marble,  nor 
gems.  The  vagrancies  and  utterances  of  Galilee  are 
precious  above  price  because  they  give  a  glory  and  a 
worth  to  the  civilization  whose  epithet  is  that  of  the 
Galilean  Vagabond. 


239.  The  Burdens  of  War 

Not  many  years  ago  I  was  in  a  little  village  nestling 
among  the  hills  of  New  England.  On  this  day  the  Grand 
Army  of  the  Republic  had  paid  fitting  tribute  to  their 
honored  dead.  The  beautiful  memorial  service  had  been 
rendered  and  all  had  gone,  when  I  found  myself  in  the 
little  churchyard.  I  stopped  by  a  plain  stone.  ' '  Father 
and  son  killed  in  the  service  of  their  country, ' '  was  the 
inscription,  and  upon  the  mounds  rested  wreaths  placed 
by  the  hands  of  those  that  revered  the  memories  of  men 
who  had  perished  in  the  performance  of  duty. 


176  AMEBIC  AN  SPEECH 

And  close  to  this  stone  was  another  recording  the  time 
when  another  soul  had  passed  away,  the  wife  of  the 
father,  the  mother  of  the  son.  But  upon  this  stone 
was  no  inscription ;  upon  this  mound,  no  flowers  of 
remembrance. 

And  I  wondered  as  I  stood  there  who  bear  the  burdens 
of  war.  Through  the  mist  of  years  I  could  see  the  hap- 
penings in  that  hamlet  at  that  dread  time.  I  could  hear 
as  they  heard  the  thunderbolts  of  Sumter,  sounding  and 
resounding  through  the  hills  of  Vermont.  No  need  to 
interpret  the  shock.  It  was  death  for  the  individual,  or 
death  for  the  nation.  And  how  splendid  the  response ! 
I  could  see  the  grim,  earnest  face  of  that  father,  the 
eager  eyes  of  that  son,  when  word  came  that  their  coun- 
try called.  And  I  could  see  that  dry-eyed,  bravely 
smiling  mother,  holding  a  child  upon  her  shoulder, 
that  this  might  be  the  last  image  on  their  minds  and 
in  their  hearts  as  they  went  away  to  war  and  whatever 
else  betide. 

The  imagination  can  follow  them  without  a  blush. 
They  were  brave  men.  Into  the  clash  and  crash  they 
went,  possessing  courage  without  limit,  hearts  without 
dismay ;  eager  to  fight,  willing  to  die  for  the  cause  they 
considered  just. 

And  turning  to  the  other  page,  I  could  see  the  mother, 
her  simple  duties  done,  sitting  by  the  window,  looking 
down  the  village  street,  and  waiting,  waiting,  waiting 
for  the  tidings  of  what  God  had  willed.  In  Virginia  was 
excitement,  comradeship,  possibly  glory;  but  there  by 
that  little  window  was  only  helpless,  patient,  anguished 
waiting  in  the  name  of  God,  for  the  love  of  country,  and 
for  the  freedom  of  the  slaves.  One  could  almost  see  the 
eyes  of  her  who  sat  there  begin  to  fade,  almost  hear  her 
steps  begin  to  falter,  while  through  the  unending  days 


SELECTIONS  FOB  FB  ACT  ICE  yj^J 

and  months  and  years  she  drew  to  her  bosom  the  prat- 
tling child  and  taught  it  to  plead  with  the  God  of  Battles 
to  save  and  not  destroy. 

And  then  came  the  fateful  message — ' '  Father  and  son 
gone  forever.  Memory  only  left."  Look  now  to  the 
window  from  down  the  village  street,  and  fathom  if  you 
can  the  depth  of  one  woman's  soul. 

Yes — who  bear  the  burdens  of  war  ?  Custom  answers. 
Go,  stand  in  the  churchyard  and  read  the  inscriptions. 
"In  the  service  of  their  God!"  Yes.  "In  the  service 
of  their  country ! ' '  Yes.  ' '  For  freedom 's  sake  ! ' '  Nobly 
true.  Not  a  word  would  we  erase.  But  what  of  her? 
What  of  the  wife  and  mother?  Inscription?  No.  She 
fought  in  no  battles.  She  bore  no  arms.  No  word  had 
she  to  say,  no  act  to  do  respecting  need  or  cause.  Hers 
not  to  reason  why;  hers  but  to  give — to  give  all,  hus- 
band, son,  the  love  of  her  heart,  the  light  of  her  eyes — 
all,  all  that  was  on  earth  to  make  her  wish  to  live.  Hers 
not  to  reason  why;   hers  but  to  give — and  die. 

Who — who  bear  the  burdens  of  war  ? 


240.  Neill  at  Cawnpore 

Colonel  James  Neill,  the  most  religious  of  men,  was 
not  a  theologian ;  but  he  grasped  the  one  ethical  truth 
that  a  thing  is  not  good  because  it  is  commanded  by  God, 
but  it  is  commanded  by  God  because  it  is  good. 

During  the  hot  afternoon  of  July  14,  1857,  the  distant 
boom  of  Neill 's  guns  reached  anxious  ears  in  the  streets 
of  Cawnpore.  Nana  Sahib  heard  them  and  realized  that 
without  effective  and  immediate  action  he  and  his  twenty 
men  were  lost.  He  hastily  summoned  his  advisors,  and 
Tika  rose  to  make  the  most  dastardly  suggestion  ever 
heard  in  a  council  of  war.    "These  foreign  devils,"  said 


178  AMERICAN  SPEECH 

he,  ' '  are  fighting  for  the  lives  of  their  wives  and  children 
imprisoned  yonder  in  the  House  of  the  Woman.  They 
will  not  go  on  fighting  like  this  for  the  mere  satisfaction 
of ' ' — he  paused  a  moment — ' '  of  burying  them. ' ' 

Before  judging  Neill  and  his  little  band  of  avengers, 
let  us  see  how  this  fiendish  counsel  was  executed.  On 
July  15,  a  boy  and  five  men  were  brought  out  and  shot 
in  the  presence  of  Nana  Sahib,  as  he  sat  outside  the 
commissariat  warehouse.  He  then  turned  and  sent  orders 
to  the  guard  to  butcher  the  two  hundred  women  and  chil- 
dren, captives  of  his  treachery.  The  guard  refused  to 
obey  his  order.  Nana  Sahib  then  summoned  two  Mo- 
hammedans and  three  Hindus,  who  armed  themselves 
with  short  native  swords,  and  in  the  low  afternoon  sun 
the  infernal  slaughter  began,  one  of  the  butchers  return- 
ing twice  for  a  new  sword. 

Next  morning  the  murderers  returned,  and  one  by  one 
the  bodies  were  dragged  across  the  compound  and  thrown 
into  the  well.  Some  still  lived,  three  or  four  children 
and  a  dozen  women  who  had  hidden  under  the  corpses  of 
their  fellows.  These  were  quickly  cut  down  or  thrown 
still  living  into  the  well,  which  was  filled  to  within  six 
feet  of  the  top. 

On  the  next  day  Neill  crushed,  drove,  beat  his  fiery 
way  into  Cawnpore — 0  the  pity  of  it! — twenty- four 
hours  too  late.  A  body  of  Highlanders  flung  themselves 
tempestuously  through  the  emptying  lanes  of  the  House 
of  the  Woman.  TheyM;ore  open  the  doors  of  the  com- 
pound, and  at  the  word  of  command  stood  at  attention. 
Their  sergeant  entered  the  house,  and  as  the  well  began 
to  betray  its  hideous  secret,  the  sergeant  came  back.  He 
was  white  in  the  face,  but  he  came  steadily  up  to  his  men 
holding  in  his  hand  the  patch  of  a  woman's  scalp  hacked 
off  by  a  sword.  Over  the  courtyard  reigned  the  stillness 
of  death. 


SELECTIONS  FOB  PRACTICE  179 

Removing  his  helmet,  the  Scotch  sergeant  moved  down 
the  line,  giving  to  each  a  finger-full  of  hair,  with  all  the 
reverence  that  such  a  sacrament  demanded ;  and  as  he 
ministered  to  each  he  said  quietly,  "One  life  for  each 
hair  before  the  sun  sets!" 

It  is  a  horrible  story,  but  horrible  crimes  can  only 
be  punished  in  a  horrible  way.  Neill,  transfigured  with 
the  fiery  wrath  of  God,  knew  no  pity,  no  mercy;  and 
something  of  his  own  austerely  religious  nature  filtered 
down  through  the  rank  and  file.  Every  man  who  by  act 
or  acquiescence  had  participated  in  the  butchery  was 
swung  from  a  gibbet,  but  not  until  he  had  cleaned  with 
his  tongue  his  allotted  scjuare  inches  of  the  blood-glued 
pavement. 

Justice  with  a  fearful  hand !  But  the  executioners 
believed  that  they  were  God's  avengers. 


241.  A  Soldier  of  France 

It  was  all  very  well,  the  wonderful  French  army,  all 
very  well  if  one  could  be  a  marshal  or  a  general  or  even 
a  soldier  of  the  line.  But  to  be  a  drummer  and  to  have 
for  one 's  most  important  duty  to  dinim  the  loungers  out 
of  a  public  garden  !    No,  he  would  desert. 

"But  why?"  said  a  grave  voice  beside  him.  "Why 
art  thou  thinking  to  desert?  Art  thou  not  a  soldier  of 
France?"  The  voice  was  very  kind,  the  kindest  that 
little  Tapin  had  heard  in  three  long  months. 

"Ah,  yes!"  he  exclaimed  bitterly.  "What  a  thing  it 
is  to  be  a  soldier  of  France  ! ' '  And  not  even  that,  but  a 
drummer  who  is  called  Little  Tapin,  because  he  is  the 
smallest  and  w^eakest  in  the  whole  corps.  Never  to  fight, 
but  only  to  drive  loafers  out  of  the  garden — that  is  what 
it  is  to  be  a  soldier  of  France  ! 


180  AMEBIC  AN  SPEECH 

The  other  leaned  forward  and  with  one  white-gloved 
hand  touched  Little  Tapin  kindly  on  the  eyes. 

Before  them  a  great  plain  spread  away  to  where  in  the 
dim  distance  peaks  of  a  range  of  purple  hills  nicked  and 
notched  a  sky  of  palest  turquois.  A  wide  road  dazzling- 
white  in  the  sunshine  swept  before  them  in  a  superb 
curve. 

Suddenly  a  short,  sharp  bugle-note  rang  out,  and 
instantly  the  air  was  full  of  the  sound  of  hoofs,  the  ring 
of  scabbards  and  stirrup  irons.  The  wide  white  road 
before  them  was  alive  with  flying  cavaliy.  Squadron 
after  squadron  they  thundered  by,  Mounted  Chasseurs, 
Polish  Light  Horse,  Old  Guard  Cavalry,  Mamelukes,  Red 
Lanciers  in  gay  uniforms  of  green  and  scarlet,  like  a 
whirlwind  they  swept  past. 

Slowly  the  dust-cloud  thinned  and  lifted,  and  the 
whole  plain  lay  revealed.  Silent,  expectant,  the  legions 
stood  there  in  broad  swells  of  light  and  color.  Then 
without  warning,  as  if  the  touch  of  a  magician's  wand 
had  aroused  the  multitude  to  life,  a  myriad  of  sabres 
swept  twinkling  from  their  scabbards,  and  by  tens  of 
thousands  the  guns  of  the  infantry  snapped  with  a  sharp 
click  to  "present  arms."  The  bugles  sounded  all  along 
the  line,  the  tri-colors  dipped  until  their  golden  fingers 
almost  swept  the  ground.  The  troopers  stood  upright  in 
their  stirrups,  heads  thrown  back,  bronzed  faces  tense, 
eyes  blazing.  From  the  furthest  slopes  inward  like 
thunder  that  growls  after  a  hoarse  cry  ran  down  the 
massed  battalions  and  broke  into  a  stupendous 
roar, — 

"Vive  I'empereur!" 

Little  Tapin  rubbed  his  eyes. 

"I  am  ill,"  he  murmured.  "I  have  been  faint.  I 
seemed  to  see — " 


SELECTIONS  FOB  PRACTICE  181 

"Thou  hast  seen,"  said  the  voice  of  his  companion 
softly, — "thou  hast  seen  what  it  is  to  be  a  soldier  of 
France!" 


242.  The  Law  of  Life 

The  old  man  listened  greedily.  Though  his  sight  had 
long  since  failed,  his  hearing  was  still  acute,  and  the 
slightest  sound  penetrated  to  his  glimmering  intelligence. 
Camp  must  be  broken.  Life  called  them  and  the  duties 
of  life,  not  death.    And  he  was  very  close  to  death  now. 

He  bowed  his  head  until  the  noise  of  the  complaining 
snow  had  died  away.  Then  his  hand  crept  out  to  the 
small  heap  of  wood  beside  him.  It  alone  stood  between 
him  and  the  eternity  that  yawned  in  upon  him.  At  last 
the  measure  of  his  life  was  a  handful  of  faggots. 

He  did  not  complain.  It  was  the  way  of  life  and  it 
was  just.  It  was  the  law  of  all  flesh.  Nature  was  not 
kindly  to  the  flesh. 

He  placed  his  stick  upon  the  fire,  and  resumed  his 
meditations.  It  was  the  same  with  all  things.  The  little 
tree-squirrel  crawled  away  to  die.  AVhen  age  settled 
upon  the  rabbit,  it  became  slow  and  unable  to  escape  its 
enemies. 

For  a  long  time  he  pondered  upon  the  days  of  his 
youth,  till  the  fire  died  down  and  the  frost  bit  deeper. 
He  replenished  it  with  two  sticks  this  time  and  gauged 
his  grip  on  life  by  what  remained. 

For  a  while  he  listened  to  the  silence.  He  strained  his 
ears,  his  restless  brain  for  a  moment  stilled.  Not  a  stir, 
— nothing.  He  alone  took  breath  in  the  midst  of  a  great 
silence.  Hark!  Wliat  was  that?  A  chill  passed  over 
his  body.  The  familiar  long-drawn  howl  broke  the  void, 
and  it  was  close  at  hand.    He  saw  the  flashing  forms  of 


182  AMERICAN  SPEECH 

gray,  the  lolling  tongues,  the  slavered  fangs.  A  cold 
muzzle  thrust  against  his  cheek,  and  his  hand  shot  into 
the  fire  and  dragged  out  a  burning  faggot. 

Overcome  by  his  fear  of  man,  the  brute  retreated, 
raising  a  prolonged  call  to  his  brothers;  and  greedily 
they  answered  till  a  ring  of  crouching,  jaw-slobbered 
forms  was  stretched  round  about. 

The  old  man  listened  to  the  drawdng  in  of  this  circle. 
He  waved  his  fire-brand  widely,  and  sniffs  turned  to 
snarls,  but  the  panting  brutes  refused  to  scatter.  He 
dropped  his  blazing  stick  into  the  snow.  It  sizzled  and 
went  out.  The  circle  grunted  uneasily,  but  held  its  own, 
and  he  dropped  his  head  wearily  upon  his  knees.  What 
did  it  matter  after  all  ?    Was  it  not  the  law  of  life  ? 


243.  Another  Day 

The  sun,  a  lusty  giant,  gripped  the  edge  of  the  eastern 
hills,  and  slowly  dragged  himself  over  their  crests.  Along 
an  avenue  of  gaunt  trees  he  passed  to  the  outskirts  of 
the  village  where,  in  the  pen,  behind  high  walls,  the 
animals  were  kept.  The  keeper  at  the  gate  saw  him 
coming  and  with  a  yawn  pulled  himself  from  his  easy 
chair  by  the  fire. 

"Four  o'clock  and  al-l-l's  wel-1-1!"  greeted  his  ears 
as  he  crept  along  the  first  row  of  cages.  Inquisitively 
the  sun  peeped  between  the  bars  of  this  row  of  pens. 
They  were  singularly  alike  in  size  and  shape  and  fittings 
— little  boxes  with  grated  doors ;  within,  a  bunk,  a  bench, 
and  two  buckets.  As  they  lay  there  inert,  the  animals 
also  looked  singularly  alike.  Only  when  the  sun  touched 
them  and  they  rolled  on  their  backs,  could  he  see  the 
difference.  Though  each  face  was  coarse  and  set,  each 
bore  a  different  brand.  One  was  ''Thug,"  another 
' '  Gambler, ' '  another  ' '  Thief. ' ' 


SELECTIONS  FOE  PRACTICE  183 

' '  Five  o  'clock  and  al-1-1  's  wel-1-1 ! "  a  voice  called. 

' '  Thank  God !  Another  day 's  gone  ! ' '  murmured  an 
animal  branded  "Forger."  Slipping  his  hand  beneath 
the  mattress,  he  drew  out  a  pencil  and  a  small  book  in 
which  he  wrote,  whispering  the  figures,  "The  3120th 
day.    That  leaves  me  ninety  to  go." 

It  was  only  the  3119th  day,  to  be  exact,  but  this  ani- 
mal counted  each  new  day  dead  at  its  birth. 

Meantime  the  sun  had  been  slowly  climbing  the  far- 
ther wall  stone  by  stone  and  had  pulled  himself  over  the 
coping.  For  a  moment  he  sat  there, — then,  leaping  the 
road,  reached  his  arm  over  the  sill  of  an  open  casement 
window  of  a  cottage.  On  a  bed,  across  the  room,  a 
woman  was  lying,  her  graying  hair  massed  on  the  pillow 
behind.  With  the  tips  of  his  slender  fingers  the  sun 
touched  her  brow. 

"Is  that  you,  my  boy?"  she  murmured.  Then,  half 
opening  her  eyes,  she  brushed  aside  a  lock  of  hair  and 
laughed  softly  to  herself.  Her  eyes  opened  wide  now. 
They  traveled  around  the  room.  She  sighed.  Then  she 
arose. 

As  she  reached  out  a  white  arm  to  shut  the  casement, 
she  fluttered  her  hand  prisonward,  stood  for  a  moment 
gazing  at  the  grim,  gray  walls. — then,  almost  reluctantly 
closed  the  window. 

"Thank  God!  Another  day's  gone!"  she  said,  scor- 
ing heavily  a  calendar  beside  the  window.  "The  3120th 
day.     That  leaves  me  ninety  to  wait. ' ' 

She  also  counted  the  new  day  dead  at  its  birth. 


244.  Two  Pictures 

In  one  of  the  ancient  cities  of  southern  Italy  is  a 
convent,  a  poor,  plain,  unattractive  convent.     Yet  this 


184  AMERICAN  SPEECH 

little  sanctuary  is  famed  the  world  over,  for  on  the  wall 
of  the  convent  church  hangs  a  picture — a  picture  of  our 
Lord's  Last  Supper,  painted  by  Leonardo  da  Vinci.  At 
first  glance,  you  might  think  this  no  remarkable  picture ; 
yet  it  differs  from  other  paintings  of  this  scene  in  this 
respect — that  each  figure  was  painted  from  a  human 
model. 

The  models  of  Peter,  James,  and  John  were  easy  to 
find,  but  the  artist  searched  all  Italy  in  vain  to  find  a 
face  that  would  serve  as  a  model  for  the  face  of  Jesus. 
He  searched  through  the  slums,  but  here  he  found  only 
poverty  and  misery.  He  searched  through  the  courts, 
but  there  he  found  only  selfishness  and  gayety.  "No-, 
where  could  he  find  that  tenderness  and  loving  kindness 
so  natural  to  our  Lord. 

But  one  day,  he  entered  an  old  cathedral,  and  listened 
to  the  choir  as  it  sang.  There  was  one  voicef^lear  and 
beautiful  above  them  all,  that  attracted  him,  allured  him, 
enchanted  him.  Quickly  he  decided  that  the  face  that 
"^"went  with  that  voice  would  be  the  best  model  from  which 
!  to  paint  the  face  of  Christ.  After  the  service,  da  Vinci 
eagerly  sought  out  the  young  man  and  engaged  him  to 
pose  for  the  picture.  "When  it  was  finished,  Petro  Bar- 
denelloywith  a  few  gold  coins  in  his  pocket,  set  out  for 
Rome  to  finish  his  voice  culture. 

The  artist  worked  unceasingly  on  his  painting  for 
years  until  he  came  to  the  face  of  Judas,  the  betratyer, 
and  then  again  he  searched  long  through  the  cities  of 
Italy.  At  lasCin  one  of  the  filthiest  holes  in  Rome,  amid 
dreary  moonlight  and  lantern  flashes,  he  found  his  model, 
a  miserable  and  wretched  wreck  of  humanity.  He  hailed 
the  man  and  hired  him  to  sit  for  the  picture  for  a  few 
pennies — the  price  of  a  Judas  face.  "When  the  work 
was  over,  the  artist  counted  out  a  few  coins,  placed  them 


SELECTIONS  FOB  PE ACTIOS  185 

in  the  drink-trembling  hand  of  the  wretch,  and  bade  him 
begone. 

But  in  an  instant,  he  heard  the  click  of  the  latch  and 
the  man  again  entered.  He  hesitated,  faltered  a  mo- 
ment, and  said,  "da  Vinci,  you  have  painted  my  picture 
twice  upon  that  canvas."  Till  then^not  even  the  eye  of 
the  master  painter  had  detected  in  the  sin-scarred  visage 
of  the  wretch  the  face  of  that  tender  young  man  whose 
picture  he  had  painted  ten  years  before.  It  was  true, 
there  stood  Petro  Bardenello. 


245.  Deathless  ENDEiVVoR 

The  organ  told  a  story  one  night  of  a  man  who  found 
happiness,  but  the  organ  said  that  he  did  not  seek  it. 
It  is  rather  a  curious  story,  and  it  is  true. 

He  was  a  minister,  this  man,  in  a  small  English  parish 
near  the  sea.  You  can  find  his  name  in  the  hymn-book. 
He  was  not  very  clever,  but  he  thought  he  had  a  vision. 
At  all  events,  he  had  a  friend,  one  whom  he  loved  in 
the  beauty  of  holiness  and  mth  the  fidelity  of  a  Jona- 
than. After  a  while  the  fnend  died,  but  Jonathan  did 
not  forget.  It  meant  a  good  deal  to  a  poor  rector,  who 
was  not  clever,  to  clothe  and  feed  a  little  one,  but  he 
cared  tenderly  for  the  orphan  David  had  left. 

One  day  when  the  work  of  the  parish  seemed  unbear- 
able, he  saw  a  doctor,  who  advised  Italy  and — the  doc- 
tor blushed — and  better  food.  Jonathan  shook  his  head. 
Curates  and  other  laborers  were  rather  poorly  paid  in 
those  days,  and  then,  there  was  the  child,  David 's  child. 

A  few  months  later  he  had  to  see  the  doctor  again; 
this  time  the  doctor  came  to  see  him.  It  was  Saturday, 
and  Jonathan  was  working  on  his  sermon.     The  doctor 


186  AMERICAN  SPEECS 

said  it  would  be  his  last,  and  Jonathan,  being  very  tired, 
nodded  silently.  He  smiled  a  little  too,  for  he  had  pro- 
vided for  the  child. 

On  the  next  day  he  held  a  communion  service.  Peo- 
ple remembered  that  service  long  afterwards,  and  the 
evening  sermon  most  of  all.  It  was  not  a  clever  sermon, 
but  it  had  for  its  text,  "Love  never  faileth!"  He  was 
thinking  of  David,  and  his  vision  shone  through  his 
timid  w^ords.  The  choir  sang  the  ''Nunc  dimittis,"  and 
he  went  home  in  the  sad  gray  of  an  English  twilight. 
He  sat  in  his  study  for  a  long  time,  thinking  of  David 
and  David's  welcome.  There  was  paper  beside  him,  and 
while  the  night  came,  he  wrote  from  his  tired,  trusting 
heart,  words  you  have  heard  your  mother  sing : 

Abide  with  me,  fast  falls  the  eventide ; 
The  darkness  deepens ;  Lord,  with  me  abide. 

When  he  finished  it  was  dark  outside,  but  he  w^as  behold- 
ing the  radiance  of  the  unseen. 

Hold  thou  thy  cross  before  my  closing  eyes, 
Shine  through  the  gloom  and  point  me  to  the  skies ; 
Heav'n's  morning  breaks  and  earth's  vain  shadows  flee; 
In  life,  in  death,  0  Lord,  abide  with  me. 

A  few  days  later  heaven's  morning  broke,  and  those 
who  stood  by  saw  Jonathan  smile,  and  heard  him  say, 
"Joy!  Peace!" 

246.  An  Accident 

We  were  just  over  the  brow  of  one  of  the  worst  hills 
in  England  when  the  trouble  began.  I  had  been  on 
high-speed  and  wanted  to  get  in  neutral;  but  she  stuck 
between  gears,  and  I  had  to  get  back  on  high  again.  By 
this  time  she  was  going  at  a  great  rate,  so  I  clapped  on 


SELECTIONS  FOB  TB  ACT  ICE  187 

both  brakes.  One  after  the  other  gave  way.  I  didn't 
mind  so  much  when  I  felt  the  foot-brake  snap,  but  when 
I  put  all  my  weight  on  my  side-brake  and  the  lever 
clanged  to  its  full  limit  without  a  catch,  it  brouglit  out 
a  cold  sweat.  By  this  time  we  were  fairly  tearing  down 
the  slope.  The  lights  were  brilliant,  and  I  brought  her 
around  the  first  curve  all  right.  Then  we  did  the  second 
one ;  though  it  was  a  close  shave  for  the  ditch.  There 
was  a  mile  of  straight,  then  a  third  curve  beneath  it,  and 
after  that  the  gate  of  my  park. 

We  got  round  the  third  comer  with  one  wheel  three 
feet  in  the  air.  We  shot  out  of  the  lane.  I  saw  the  open 
gate  on  my  left.  I  whirled  my  wheel  with  all  the  strength 
of  my  wrists.  Perkins  and  I  threw  our  bodies  across, 
and  then  .the  next  instant,  going  at  fifty  miles  an  hour 
my  right  front  wheel  stiiick  full  on  the  right  pillar  of 
my  own  gate.  I  heard  the  crash.  I  was  conscious  of 
flying  through  the  air,  and  then — 

When  I  became  aware  of  my  own  existence  once  more, 
I  was  among  some  brushwood  in  the  shadow  of  the  oaks 
upon  the  lodge  side  of  the  drive.  A  man  was  standing 
beside  me.  It  was  Stanley,  a  man  whom  I  had  known 
at  college  some  years  before. 

"What  a  smash!"  I  cried;  "Good  Lord,  what  an  aw- 
ful smash ! ' ' 

He  nodded  his  head  and  smiled  faintly.  I  was  quite 
unable  to  move,  but  my  senses  were  exceedingly  alert. 
I  saw  the  little  group  of  people  and  heard  their  hushed 
voices.  There  were  the  lodgekeeper  and  his  wife  and  one 
or  two  more.  They  were  taking  no  notice  of  me,  but 
were  very  busy  around  the  car.  Then  suddenly  I  heard 
a  cry  of  pain. 

"The  weight  is  on  him;  lift  it  easy,"  cried  a  voice. 

"It's    only    my    leg,"    said    another — one    which    I 


1 1  ■ 


188  AMERICAN  SPEECH 

recognized    as    my    chauffeur's.      "Where's    master?" 
he  cried. 

"Here  I  am,"  I  answered,  but  they  did  not  seem  to 
hear  me.  They  were  bending  over  something  which  lay 
in  front  of  the  car. 

Stanley  laid  his  hand  upon  my  shoulder,  and  his 
touch  was  inexpressibly  soothing.  I  felt  light  and  happy 
in  spite  of  all. 

'No  pain,  of  course?"  said  he. 
•None,"  said  I. 

"There  never  is,"  said  he. 

And  then  suddenly  a  wave  of  amazement  passed  over 
me.  'Stanley!  Stanley!  Why,  Stanley  had  surely  died 
of  enteric  in  the  Boer  War. ' 

"Stanley!"  I  cried — and  the  words  seemed  to  choke 
me — "Stanley,  you're  dead!" 

He  looked  at  me  with  the  same  old,  gentle,  wistful 
smile. 

' '  So  are  you  ! "  he  answered. 


247.  A  Man's  Heart 

Mr.  Glenn,  an  energetic  young  preacher,  had  just 
arrived  at  Ontanogan,  a  northern  Wisconsin  town  fa- 
mous for  its  saw  mills,  lumber- jacks  and  saloons.  His 
surroundings  seemed  strange  to  him,  and  on  a  little  tour 
of  inspection,  he  chanced  to  meet  Dave  Bruce.  Bruce 
was  a  typical  saloon-keeper  of  the  town,  full  of  Irish 
wit  and  tenderness.  After  learning  Mr.  Glenn's  mission, 
he  sympathetically  said,  "Say,  I'm  for  this  town  right 
from  the  boots  up.  Ye  can  count  on  me  helping  your 
little  white  church,  if  the  fellows  over  there  want  me." 
With  that  he  sat  a  little  nearer  and  said,  "I  never  ex- 
pected to  be  in  the  gin  business.     But  I  got  crossways 


SELECTIONS  FOB  PRACTICE  189 

with  a  lot  of  trouble  at  liome  and  skipped  the  old  coun- 
try. And  then  I  tried  to  hide  myself  in  the  woods  and 
live  the  thing  down.  Say,  come  on  in  here;  I  want  to 
show  yuh  somethin'." 

They  went  into  the  saloon  across  a  sloping  floor  to  a 
point  behind  the  bar  and  from  a  drawer  Bruce  took  out 
a  box  of  heirlooms.  Digging  down  to  the  bottom  he 
lifted  out  a  small  package,  unwrapped  it,  and  laid  it 
on  the  bar.  It  was  a  copy  of  the  New  Testament. 
"That's  the  thing  that  sticks  to  me  like  a  sand-bur.  I 
never  saw  anythin'  like  it.  I  have  been  everywhere, 
done  everything;  I've  lost  my  money  and  my  friends, 
my  character,  but  I've  never  lost  that  book.  I  haven't 
read  a  page  in  it  for  ten  years,  but  I've  got  this  old 
green  rag  around  it  that  my  mother  wrapped  it  in  the 
mornin'  I  cut  the  country,  and  the  thing  always  smells 
like  the  heather  on  the  hill.  And  sometimes  when  busi- 
ness is  bum  and  I'm  dead  lonesome,  I  just  get  this  old 
thing  out  and  smell  it;  and  if  no  one's  around,  I  can't 
keep  the  fool  tears  back.  It's  an  Irishman  for  tears  and 
smiles,  y'  know,"  and  he  reverently  replaced  the  book 
and  closed  the  drawer. 

The  two  sat  and  talked  in  the  morning  sun  for  a  good 
while  and  Mr.  Glenn  learned  much,  but  nothing  more 
interesting  than  the  things  he  saw  in  the  deep  places  of 
Dave  Bruce 's  heart. 


248.  The  Boston  Massacre 

It  was  on  the  third  of  March,  1776.  The  sunset  music 
of  the  British  regiments  was  heard  throughout  the 
streets  of  Boston  Town.  A  sentinel  paced  up  and  down 
before  the  custom  house.     Later  in  the  evening  several 


190  AMERICAN  SPEECH 

young  men  walked  down  King  street.  As  they  passed 
the  sentinel  and  his  post  in  front  of  the  custom  house, 
he  halted  them.  ' '  Who  goes  there  ! "  he  cried  in  the  gruff 
peremptory  tones  of  a  soldier's  challenge. 

Now,  the  young  men  felt  as  if  they  had  a  right  to  walk 
on  their  own  streets  without  being  accountable  to  a 
British  Redcoat.  They  made  some  rude  answer  to  the 
sentinel.  There  was  a  dispute  or  perhaps  a  scuffle.  Other 
soldiers  ran  hastily  from  the  barracks  to  assist  their 
comrades.  At  the  same  time  many  townspeople  rushed 
into  King  Street  by  various  avenues  and  gathered  in  a 
crowd  'round  about  the  custom  house. 

As  the  tumult  grew  louder,  it  reached  the  ears  of 
Captain  Preston.  He  immediately  ordered  eight  men  to 
follow  him.  Arriving  at  the  sentinel's  post.  Captain 
Preston  drew  his  men  up  in  a  semi-circle  with  their 
faces  to  the  crowd  and  their  rear  to  the  custom  house. 
When  tlie  people  saw  the  officer  and  beheld  the  threaten- 
ing attitude  with  which  the  soldiers  fronted  them,  their 
anger  became  almost  uncontrollable. 

"Rush  upon  them!"  shouted  many  voices.  "Drive 
the  rascals  to  their  barracks !  Down  with  them !  Down 
with  them  !    Let  them  fire  if  they  dare  ! ' ' 

"Fire  if  you  dare,  villains!"  hoarsely  shouted  the 
people,  while  the  muzzles  of  the  muskets  were  turned 
upon  them.    "You  dare  not  fire." 

They  appeared  ready  to  rusli  upon  the  levelled  bay- 
onets. Captain  Preston  waved  his  sword  and  uttered  a 
command  which  could  not  be  distinctly  heard  amid  the 
uproar  of  shouts  that  issued  from  a  hundred  throats. 
But  his  soldiers  deemed  that  he  had  spoken  the  fatal  com- 
mand, "Fire!"  The  flash  of  their  muskets  lighted  up 
the  streets  and  the  report  rang  loudly  between  the  edi- 
fices.   It  was  said  that  the  figure  of  a  man  was  seen  to 


SELECTIONS  FOB  PRACTICE  191 

step  into  the  balcony  of  the  custom  house  and  discharge 
a  musket  at  the  crowd. 

A  gush  of  smoke  had  overspread  the  scene,  and  it 
rose  heavily  as  if  it  were  loath  to  reveal  the  dreadful 
spectacle  beneath  it.  Eleven  of  the  sons  of  New  Eng- 
land lay  stretched  upon  the  street.  Some  sorely  wounded 
struggled  to  rise  again.  Others  stirred  not  nor  groaned, 
for  they  were  past  all  pain.  Blood  was  streaming  upon 
the  snow,  and  that  purple  stain  in  the  midst  of  King 
Street,  though  it  melted  away  in  the  next  day's  sun, 
was  never  forgotten  nor  forgiven  by  the  people. 


249.  John  Brown's  Spirit 

Ideas  are  not  temporal;  they  are  eternal.  They  move 
onward  through  ages,  shaping  the  destinies  of  worlds. 
Towering  shafts  and  sculptured  granite  mark  their 
course.  The  cross,  the  stake,  and  the  gibbet  are  but  mile- 
stones in  their  progress.  Every  great  movement  has  been 
consecrated  by  the  blood  of  symbolic  martyrs. 

Such  was  John  Brown.  When,  in  the  year  1854,  the 
Kansas-Nebraska  bill  became  a  law,  the  struggle  had 
begun.  The  free  state  men  had  found  a  leader  and  the 
border  ruffians  were  soon  to  learn  that  freedom  had  both 
courage  and  power. 

The  news  of  Haiper's  Ferry  flashed  out  upon  the 
startled  South  as  a  thunderbolt  from  a  clear  sky.  Vir- 
ginia hurries  her  troops  to  the  scene  of  action.  The  little 
band  is  shot  down.  John  Brown,  wounded  and  bleeding, 
is  captured.  Trembling  for  her  safety,  Virginia  rushes 
the  old  man  to  his  doom.  Dazed  and  weak  from  his 
scarcely  healed  wounds  the  old  hero  is  carried  into  the 
courtroom.     There,  lying  on  his  pallet,  unable  to  speak 


192  AMEBIC  AN  SPEECH 

a  word  in  his  defense,  he  is  tried,  convicted,  and  sen- 
tenced. And  this  was  not  under  the  shadow  of  a  despotic 
throne,  but  in  the  commonwealth  of  Virginia. 

The  scene  changes.  Upon  the  scaffold  stands  John 
Brown,  calm  and  erect.  He  has  opposed  the  state's 
enactments  and  must  die,  but  he  has  obeyed  a  higher  law, 
and  his  conscience  is  as  clear  as  that  of  a  child.  His 
plans  have  failed,  but  he  knows  what  his  death  means  to 
the  fettered  millions,  and  he  is  content.  Virginia  gives 
the  signal  and  the  man,  who  at  Harper's  Ferry  was  a 
madman,  a  fanatic,  a  traitor,  becomes  a  martyred  saint. 

Such  is  the  story  of  John  Brown 's  raid.  To  the  mourn- 
ful music  of  tolling  bells  his  body  was  conveyed  to  its 
final  resting  place  in  the  heart  of  the  Adirondacks. 
Wendell  Phillips  pronounced  the  funeral  oration ;  Wliit- 
tier  sang  his  praises;  Emerson  and  Thoreau  exalted  his 
motives. 

Virginia  had  slain  the  man,  but  the  spirit  which  ani- 
mated him  was  beyond  the  reach  of  human  power,  and 
it  still  lived.  It  swept  from  ocean  to  ocean.  It  re- 
cruited armies.  It  blazed  from  the  hot  throats  of  the 
Union  cannon.  It  stormed  Vicksburg  and  hovered  over 
the  battlefield  of  Gettysburg.  It  swept  up  Lookout 
Mountain,  over  Missionary  Ridge,  and  went  with  Sher- 
man to  the  sea.  And  when  it  had  fulfilled  its  mission, 
it  took  its  flight  heavenward,  the  lowering  clouds  of 
slavery  and  oppression  parted,  and  forth  in  radiant 
glory  burst  the  clear  sun  of  emancipation. 

250.  Grant  and  Lee 

The  occasion  was  a  Confederate  reunion.  On  the  re- 
viewing stand  stood  a  son  of  the  great  captain  of  the 
federal  forces,  whose  indomitable  will  and  iron  cour- 


SELECTIONS  FOB  PRACTICE  I93 

age  had  wrecked  the  fortunes  of  the  Confederacy,  The 
Stars  and  Stripes  were  there,  and  there  were  also  the 
tattered  remnants  of  the  Stars  and  Bars,  deemed  ola 
and  holy  relies  of  the  cause  that  was  lost. 

The  thin,  gray  column  passed  in  line  of  march,  each 
man  saluting  the  central  figure  on  the  reviewing  stand, 
who  returned  the  salutes  in  a  manner  as  hearty  and  as 
soldierly  as  that  in  which  they  were  given.  As  the  old 
soldiers  circled  back  they  broke  ranks  and  crowded  about 
the  federal  soldier,  reaching  out  their  grizzled  hands, 
hardened  and  furrowed  by  time  and  toil. 

Anyone  who  beheld  the  moist  eyes  of  the  visitor,  his 
struggle  to  hide  his  emotion,  and  the  streaming  eyes  of 
those  veterans,  could  not  doubt  that  the  disembodied 
spirits  of  Grant  and  Lee  were  hovering  over  the  touch- 
ing scene.  If  at  this  time  of  infinite  pathos  and  infinite 
honor,  when  souls  were  surging  with  emotion,  which 
only  the  brave  can  feel,  a  man  had  come  to  blow  upon 
one  dead  ember  of  passion,  it  would  have  been  the  harsh 
and  discordant  note  in  the  music  of  perfect  symphony. 

The  name  of  Grant  needs  no  perpetuation  in  marble, 
for  it  belongs  to  the  South  as  well  as  to  the  North,  and 
will  live  in  the  minds  of  men  and  be  recorded  in  the 
annals  of  all  time. 

As  the  waves  below  the  lighthouse  beat  harmlessly 
upon  the  rocks,  the  name  and  fame  of  Lee,  too,  are 
secure ;  for  he  made  history.  A  place  in  Statuary  Hall 
might  satisfy  the  demands  of  Justice,  but  it  could  add 
not  one  cubit  to  his  greatness. 

Duty  was  his  guiding  star,  honor  his  shield,  and  justice 
his  sword.  He  saw  the  sun  of  the  Confederacy  rise  in 
a  sky  of  glory,  shine  a  while  through  dust  and  smoke  of 
war,  and  in  his  great  soul  there  was  no  exultation.  He 
saw  the  sun  go  down,  never  to  rise  again,  and  his  serenity 
was  undisturbed. 


194  AMEEICAN  SPEECH 

His  life  is  his  own  Statuary  Hall,  which  will  survive 
the  assaults  of  time  and  grow  resplendent  in  the  foam 
of  passion. 


251.  The  Spirit  of  the  South 

No  soldier  in  the  history  of  the  world  ever  went  into 
battle  with  more  patriotic  heart,  more  unselfish  love  of 
country,  with  higher  aims  and  purposes,  than  did  the 
soldier  of  the  South.  Hannibal  never  crossed  the  Alps 
with  men  of  sterner  worth.  Napoleon 's  Old  Guard  never 
faced  an  enemy  with  calmer  or  greater  daring. 

After  the  war,  the  Southerner  returned  home  and  ten- 
dered his  allegiance  to  the  only  government  then  existing. 
But  it  was  more  than  a  generation  after  the  Civil  War 
before  the  South  had  an  opportunity  to  prove  that  it  had 
accepted  the  legitimate  results  of  war;  before  it  could 
prove  that  its  patriotism  was  no  longer  restricted,  but 
universal ;  no  longer  sectional,  but  national.  The  oppor- 
tunity came  with  the  Spanish-American  war.  When  the 
North  sent  her  Dewey  into  Manila  Bay,  the  South  sent 
her  Hobson  into  Santiago  Harbor ;  when  the  North  gave 
her  Roosevelt,  with  his  dauntless  Rough  Ridere,  the 
South  gave  her  Fighting  Joe  Wheeler,  with  his  brilliant 
Rebel  record ;  when  the  North  called  forth  her  Admiral 
Sampson,  the  South  called  forth  her  Admiral  Schley,  the 
hero  of  Santiago. 

Yes,  the  South  has  proved  the  universality  of  its  patri- 
otism, and  like  Lee,  forgetting  all  the  bitterness,  the 
prejudices  of  the  war,  all  but  the  sacred  memories,  has 
taken  upon  herself  the  duties  and  obligations  of  true 
American  citizens,  striving  always  to  promote  the  na- 
tion 's  best  welfare. 


SELECTIONS  FOE  FB  ACT  ICE  195 

The  spirit  of  the  South  is  one  that  caused  its  people 
to  rise  from  the  dust  of  defeat  to  the  heights  of  victory ; 
a  spirit  that  characterized  the  old  South ;  a  spirit  that 
made  possible  the  New  South.  Yes,  a  new  South,  but 
still  a  South  where  the  world  may  learn  lessons  of  truest 
loyalty  and  patriotism ;  where  the  valor  of  her  soldiers 
in  time  of  war  or  the  chivalry  of  her  citizens  in  time  of 
peace,  finds  no  higher  examples  in  the  world's  history; 
a  land  whose  music  and  poetry  have  thrilled  the  world ;  a 
land  whose  love  of  country  and  love  of  right  are  still  its 
noblest  characteristics;  a  land  where  hospitality  still 
reigns  and  the  traveller  is  ever  welcome ;  a  land  where 
knighthood  is  still  in  flower  and  the  chann  of  woman- 
hood still  holds  sway  ;  a  land  whose  modem  spirit  of  com- 
mercialism has  not  deadened  the  loftier  feelings  and 
sentiments  of  its  people ;  a  land  whose  sectionalism  has 
grown  into  nationalism — a  nationalism  expressed  most 
forcibly  by  Benjamin  H.  Hill  when  he  said,  "There  was 
a  South  of  slavery  and  secession;  that  South  is  dead. 
There  is  a  South  of  union  and  freedom;  that  South, 
thank  God,  is  living,  breathing,  growing  every  hour," 


252.  San  Martin 

They  are  steep,  those  Andes  Mountains,  and  they  are 
cold,  and  still.  For  centuries  they  defied  mankind,  and 
none  but  hardy  adventurers  scaled  their  heights.  But  a 
hundred  years  ago,  those  unconquered  monsters  beheld 
a  strange  sight.  Blinded  by  snow,  slipping,  stumbling, 
groping,  an  army  was  making  its  way  up  the  almost  im- 
penetrable patlis.  In  vain  the  peaks  expended  their  fury. 
The  men  laughed  at  the  avalanches,  and  the  cold,  and  the 
dangers.  Enthused  by  the  mai-velous  spirit  of  their 
leader,  they  climbed  the  very  heights  and  descended  the 


196  AMEEICAN  SPEECH 

othei"  side,  forgetting  weariness,  forgetting  their  toil- 
worn  feet.  They  took  with  them  the  rage  of  the  elements, 
swooped  down  on  the  unsuspecting  Spaniards,  and  drove 
them  like  snow  before  the  wind.  Only  one  man  in  the 
world  could  have  led  an  army  thus,  and  his  name  was 
San  Martin. 

The  Spanish  power  collapsed  like  an  egg-shell  before 
his  onslaught,  and  on  its  ruins  he  founded  a  just  gov- 
ernment. He  became  Dictator  of  Peru  and  Chile,  and 
to  his  palace  people  thronged  for  an  audience.  Far  and 
wide  he  was  hailed  as  the  Liberator,  with  power  absolute 
and  unquestioned.  The  whole  vast  treasure  of  the  Incas 
lay  at  his  command.  Here  was  an  empire  of  half  a  con- 
tinent and  he  its  emperor. 

Some  years  later,  a  ragged  old  man,  bent  with  the 
weight  of  the  years,  hobbled  down  a  dingy  alley  in  Paris. 
The  poor  people  whom  he  met  all  greeted  him  kindly. 
Someone  whispered  that  this  strange  neighbor  had  once 
been  rich,  and  had  given  all  his  money  away.  The  scoffers 
said,  ''Nonsense;  people,  nowadays,  don't  give  up  any- 
thing for  their  country."  But  the  whispers  were  true. 
This  was  San  Martin.  He  had  given  up  all  he  had  of 
power  and  wealth,  and  left  the  country  he  loved,  when 
he  knew  it  no  longer  needed  him.  In  poverty  he  lived, 
and  in  poverty  he  died.  His  countrymen  have  claimed 
his  body  at  last,  and  now  he  lies  in  a  tomb  as  grand  as 
that  of  Napoleon,  hailed  throughout  the  lands,  the  Wash- 
ington of  South  America. 

253.  The  Oregon  Trail 

No  chapter  in  the  history  of  our  country  reads  so  like 
romance,  no  chapter  is  so  appealing  to  young  America, 
as  that  which  relates  the  passing  of  our  nation  westward 


SELECTIONS  FOR  PBACTICE  197 

over  the  Oregon  trail.  Our  hearts  quicken  when  we 
read  of  the  way  in  which  America  was  taken,  of  the  keen 
zest  of  a  Nation's  youth,  full  of  ambition  and  daring,  full 
of  contempt  for  obstacles,  full  of  a  vast  and  splendid 
hope.  A  master  hand  has  painted  the  spirit  of  that  day, 
the  (iolumns  of  our  own  people  moving  westward  across 
the  land,  fierce-eyed,  fearless,  doubting  nothing,  fearing 
nothing.  It  was  the  genius  of  America,  the  spirit  of  a 
triumphant  democracy. 

These  pioneers  who  followed  Dr.  Marcus  Whitman  over 
the  Oregon  trail,  had  but  one  purpose — to  occupy  Ore- 
gon before  the  British.  With  them  went  wives,  children 
— home.  That  was  the  difference  between  them  and  the 
slower  host,  made  up  of  men  only,  that  pushed  westward 
and  southward  over  the  Canadian  plains.  That  was  why 
they  won. 

Twenty  miles  a  day,  week  in  and  week  out,  these 
pioneers  toiled  westward ;  up  the  Platte,  over  the  Rockies, 
and  through  a  country  tilled  with  Indians.  They  were 
a  mixed  crowd — sons  of  the  best  families  in  the  South, 
sons  of  the  North,  Roundhead  and  Cavalier,  Easterner 
and  Westerner,  Germans,  Yankees,  Scotch-Irish — all 
Americans.  Many  were  the  hardships  they  endured,  and 
terrible  the  sufferings;  they  had  to  face  winter  storms 
in  the  mountains,  the  terrors  of  starvation  and  of  attacks 
from  Indians. 

A  civilization  went  with  them.  The  moving  camp-fire 
was  their  social  center.  Young  folk  made  love ;  old  folk 
made  plans  for  their  new  homes.  A  cliurch  marched 
with  them,  as  well  as  the  law  and  courts.  By  the  faint 
flicker  of  the  firelight,  parents  taught  their  children  to 
read  and  WTite.  Sunday  was  regularly  observed,  and 
sometimes  dances  were  held  on  the  greensward. 

Thus  they  marched  westward  and  took  Oregon  by  the 


198  AMEBIC  AN  SPEECH 

only  law  of  right.  There  was  no  roll  of  drum,  no  flutter 
of  flag,  when  they  took  possession  of  the  soil.  But  the 
canvas  covers  of  their  wagons  gave  way  to  permanent 
roofs.  Where  the  English  had  hoped  to  plant  their  flag, 
there  blazed  the  hearth-fires  of  a  hundred  American 
homes. 

254.  The  Acquittal  of  Burr 

It  is  a  warm  day  in  July,  1807.  The  old  court-house 
at  Richmond,  Virginia,  is  crowded  to  its  fullest  capacity. 
The  jury  is  out  and  spectators,  counsel,  and  accused  wait 
expectantly  for  the  verdict. 

Perhaps  you  may  ask  what  causes  all  this  excitement. 
Aaron  Burr,  former  Vice-President  of  the  United  States, 
is  on  trial  for  more  than  his  life — for  his  honor.  He  is 
accused  of  plotting  treason  against  his  country.  Is  it 
any  wonder  then  that  the  court-room  is  filled? 

But  if  you  imagine  yourself  back  in  that  court-room 
at  Richmond,  you  would  be  strangely  impressed  with  the 
talk  and  actions  of  the  spectators.  The  people,  strange 
to  say,  are  in  sympathy  with  the  accused.  They  admire 
him  for  his  coolness,  for  his  tact,  for  his  readiness  to 
smooth  over  any  difficulty  between  the  opposing  attor- 
neys. Strange  tales  have  come  to  their  ears  about  the 
movements  of  this  man  on  the  western  frontier.  On 
the  other  hand,  they  have  seen  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus 
abused.  They  have  heard  that  many  witnesses  were 
seized  and  hurried  east,  even  without  hearing  or  counsel. 
Later  they  have  seen  the  prosecuting  attorney  refuse  to 
produce  letters  bearing  on  the  case,  simply  because 
Thomas  Jefferson,  President  of  the  United  States,  did 
not  want  his  correspondence  with  Wilkinson  revealed. 
Perhaps  the  president  had  a  reason.    Perhaps,  also,  the 


SELECTIONS  FOE  PRACTICE  199 

court  might  then  have  seen  how  evidence  was  manufac- 
tured to  implicate  Burr.  Perhaps  Jefferson  had  a  pur- 
pose in  getting  Burr  out  of  the  way. 

As  a  result,  the  people,  who  should  have  nothing  in 
common  with  Burr,  who  should  hate  him  for  a  traitor, 
cheer  and  shout  when  the  verdict  of  acquittal  is  an- 
nounced. But  why,  you  ask  ?  They  reason  somewhat  in 
this  manner.  If  a  man  like  Burr,  high  in  power  and 
rich  in  friends,  has  been  treated  in  this  fashion,  what  is 
to  prevent  you  or  me  from  being  seized  at  any  time, 
anywhere,  hurried  to  a  strange  court,  and  tried  for  any 
crime  on  the  calendar  without  the  constitutional  privi- 
leges of  an  American  citizen.  If  that  can  happen,  the 
people  have  lost  their  rights.  And  so,  disregarding 
Burr's  treason,  and  ever  jealous  of  their  rights,  they  see 
only  in  his  acquittal  a  triumph  of  their  liberties. 


255.  Christopher  Columbus 

By  the  shore  of  the  sea  a  boy  stood  alone.  He  watched 
in  awe  the  ocean's  power  as  it  broke  thunderously  upon 
the  rocks.  He  gazed  with  dreamer's  eye  over  the  foam- 
capped  waves  to  the  place  where  sky  and  ocean  meet, 
and  from]  out  the  mists  that  veiled  the  western  horizon 
there  came  to  him  the  call  of  the  sea.  He  wondered  in 
his  boyish  imaginings  what  other  shores  were  lashed  by 
those  same  waters ;  but  the  sea 's  mysteries,  like  inscruta- 
ble secrets  of  the  Omnipotent,  seemed  buried  in  the 
bosom  of  the  deep.  Thus  did  the  ever-changing  sea 
propound  to  the  boy  Columbus  the  riddle  he  was  to 
spend  his  life  in  answering. 

How  he  wandered  from  court  to  court  with  the  so- 
called  visionary  scheme,  has  been  told  to  every  child. 
How  at  last  Queen  Isabella  furnished  the  ships  and  how 


200  AMERICAN  SPEECH 

the  Admiral  set  sail  on  his  strange  mission,  every  reader 
of  the  world's  history  must  know.  Upon  his  departure 
they  called  him  a  crazy  mendicant ;  upon  his  return  they 
hailed  him  as  the  discoverer  of  a  new  world !  No  longer 
penniless,  he  paid  his  debt  of  loyalty  to  his  sovereigns 
by  the  gift  of  a  continent. 

For  a  time,  the  star  of  the  Spanish  Empire  rose ;  but 
the  man  who  had  made  her  glory  possible  was,  in  his 
old  age,  stripped  of  his  honors.  Worn  out  by  a  life  of 
hardship,  wrapped  in  a  veil  of  sorrow  and  disappoint- 
ment, he  died  as  he  was  born,  in  obscurity  and  want. 
And  in  the  failure  of  Spain  in  the  new  world,  I  see  the 
hand  of  the  Nemesis  of  Histoiy,  avenging  the  memory 
of  one  who  died  dishonored  and  disowned. 

God  chooses  strange  tools  for  the  working  out  of  the 
world's  destinies.  When  He  wanted  a  man  to  lead  His 
people  out  of  Egypt,  He  chose  a  murderer  of  doubtful 
birth,  the  young  and  reckless  Moses.  Wlien  He  needed 
a  man  to  cleanse  the  church.  He  discovered  him  in  a 
German  lad  named  Luther,  singing  on  the  street  for  his 
dinner.  So,  when  the  day  had  come  for  the  discovery 
of  a  new  world.  He  chose  a  man  without  birth  or  name, 
an  Italian  beggar,  whom  his  neighbors  called  mad. 

Moses  on  Mount  Sinai;  Savonarola,  hurling  his  de- 
fiance at  Pope  and  Prince  alike — found  all  mankind 
arrayed  against  them — yet  their  ideas  have  swept  the 
world ! 

Christopher  Columbus  lies  buried  in  Madrid ;  but  he 
belongs  to  no  city  and  to  no  single  nation.  In  Cordova 
they  have  erected  a  shaft  to  his  memory.  Over  his 
birthplace  at  Genoa,  they  have  built  a  column,  and  a 
stately  mausoleum  covers  his  remains.  But  human  hands 
can  build  him  no  adequate  monument.  His  own  achieve- 
ment is  his  fitting  memorial.    In  the  spires  and  towers  of 


SELECTIONS  FOB  PRACTICE  201 

American  cities,  stands  the  fulfillment  of  the  Italian  beg- 
gar's  dream!  In  our  snow-capped  mountains  and  ever- 
lasting hiiis,  we  behold  his  monument ! 


256.       The  Murder  op  Abraham  Lincoln 

The  day  of  April  14th,  1865,  seems  to  have  been  a 
pleasant  one  throughout  the  whole  country,  the  moral 
atmosphere  pleasant,  too;  the  long  storm,  so  dark,  so 
fratricidal,  so  full  of  blood,  and  doubt,  and  gloom,  over 
and  ended  at  last  by  the  utter  breaking  down  of  Seces- 
sionism. 

The  popular  Washington  paper,  the  little  Evening 
Star,  has  spattered  all  over  it  in  a  hundred  different 
places,  ' '  The  President  and  his  lady  will  be  at  the  theater 
this  evening."  The  President  came  and  with  his  wife 
occupied  one  of  the  large  stage  boxes  of  the  second  tier. 

The  piece  had  progressed  through  a  couple  of  acts, 
when  in  the  midst  of  this  comedy,  or  tragedy,  or  what- 
ever it  is  to  be  called,  came  that  scene  not  exactly  to  be 
described — the  murder  of  Abraham  Lincoln. 

Through  the  general  hum  following  the  change  of  po- 
sitions, came  the  muffled  sound  of  a  pistol  shot  which  not 
one-hundredth  part  of  the  audience  heard,  and  yet  a 
moment's  pause,  and  then  through  the  starred  and 
striped  spaceway  of  the  President's  box,  a  sudden  figure, 
a  man,  raises  himself  with  his  hands  and  feet,  stands  for 
a  moment  on  the  railing,  leaps  to  the  stage  below,  falls 
on  one  knee,  quickly  recovei*s  himself,  and  rises  as  if 
nothing  had  happened.  So  the  figure,  dressed  in  plain, 
black  cloth,  bareheaded,  with  glossy  raven  hair,  and 
eyes  like  some  mad  animal's,  and  yet  with  a  certain 
strange  calmness,  walks  along  not  much  back  of  the  stage 
lights,  turns  fully  towards  the  audience,  holds  aloft  a 


202  AMERICAN  SPEECH 

large  knife,  launches  ont  in  a  firm  and  steady  voice  the 
words,  ''Sic  semper  tyramiis,"  crosses  to  the  back  of  the 
stage,  and  disappears.  A  moment's  hush,  a  scream,  the 
cry  of  murder;  Mrs.  Lincoln,  leaning  far  out  over  the 
President's  box,  pointing  to  the  retreating  figure  with 
involuntary  cry,  "He  has  killed  the  President."  And 
still  a  strange,  incredulous  suspense,  and  then  the  deluge. 
The  people  burst  through  chairs  and  railings  and  break 
them  up ;  women  faint,  feeble  persons  fall  and  are 
trampled  on ;  the  broad  stage  fills  to  sufi^ocation  with  this 
dense  and  motley  crowd,  like  some  horrible  carnival; 
and  in  the  midst  of  this  pandemonium  of  infuriated 
soldiers,  the  audience,  the  stage  with  all  its  actors  and 
actresses,  its  paint-pots,  spangles,  and  gas-lights,  the  life- 
blood  from  those  veins,  the  best  and  sweetest  in  the  land, 
drips  slowly  down.  Already  death 's  ooze  begins  its  little 
bubbles  on  the  lips. 

Dear  to  the  muse,  thrice  dear  to  nationality,  to  the 
whole  human  race.  Precious  to  this  Union,  precious  to 
democracy,  unspeakably  and  forever  precious,  the  first 
great  martyred  chief. 


257.  Lincoln 

Nearly  all  great  historic  characters  are  impossible  mon- 
sters, disproportioned  by  flattery,  or  by  calumny  de- 
formed. We  know  nothing  of  their  peculiarities  or 
nothing  but  their  peculiarities.  Hundreds  of  people  are 
now  engaged  in  smoothing  out  the  lines  of  Lincoln 's  face 
— forcing  all  features  to  a  common  mould — so  that  he 
may  be  known,  not  as  he  really  was,  but  according  to 
their  poor  standard,  as  he  should  have  been. 

Lincoln  was  not  a  type.  He  stands  alone — no  ances- 
tors, no  fellows,  no  successors.    He  had  the  advantage  of 


SELECTIONS  FOE  PE  ACT  ICE  203 

living  in  a  new  country,  of  social  equality,  of  personal 
freedom.  He  knew  and  mingled  with  men  of  every  kind, 
and,  after  all,  men  are  the  best  books. 

Lincoln  never  finished  his  education.  To  the  night  of 
his  death  he  was  a  pupil,  a  learner,  an  inquirer,  a  seeker 
after  knowledge. 

He  was  a  many-sided  man,  acquainted  with  smiles  and 
tears,  complex  in  brain,  single  in  heart,  direct  as  light; 
and  his  words,  candid  as  mirrors,  gave  the  perfect  image 
of  his  thought. 

He  was  an  orator — clear,  sincere,  natural.  He  did  not 
pretend.  He  did  not  say  what  he  thought  others  thought, 
but  what  he  thought.  If  you  wish  to  know  the  differ- 
ence between  an  orator  and  an  elocutionist — between 
what  is  felt  and  what  is  said — between  what  the  heart 
and  brain  can  do  together,  and  what  the  brain  can  do 
alone — read  Lincoln's  wondrous  words  at  Gettysburg, 
and  then  the  speech  of  Edward  Everett.  The  oration  of 
Lincoln  will  never  be  forgotten.  It  will  live  until  lan- 
guages are  dead  and  lips  are  dust.  The  speech  of  Ever- 
ett will  never  be  read. 

Lincoln  was  an  immense  personality — firm,  but  not 
obstinate.  Obstinacy  is  egotism — firmness,  heroism.  He 
influenced  others  without  effort,  unconsciously,  and  they 
submitted  to  him  as  men  submit  to  nature,  unconsciously. 
He  was  severe  with  himself,  and  for  that  reason  lenient 
with  others. 

He  knew  others  because  perfectly  acquainted  with  him- 
self. He  cared  nothing  for  place,  but  everything  for 
principle;  nothing  for  money,  but  everything  for  inde- 
pendence. Where  no  principle  was  involved,  easily 
swayed — willing  to  go  slowly,  if  in  the  right  direction — 
sometimes  willing  to  stop,  but  he  would  not  go  back,  and 
he  would  not  go  wrong.     He  knew  that  slavery  had  de- 


204  AMEBICAN  SPEECH 

fenders  but  no  defense,  and  that  they  who  attack  the 
right  must  wound  themselves.  With  him  men  were 
neither  great  nor  small — they  were  right  or  wrong.  Be- 
yond accident,  policy,  compromise,  and  war,  he  saw  the 
end. 

Nothing  discloses  real  character  like  the  use  of  power. 
It  is  easy  for  the  weak  to  be  gentle ;  most  people  can  bear 
adversity.  But  if  you  wish  to  know  what  a  man  really 
is,  give  him  power.  This  is  the  supreme  test.  It  is  to 
the  glory  of  Lincoln  that,  having  almost  absolute 
power,  he  never  abused  it  except  on  the  side  of 
mercy. 

"Wealth  could  not  awe  this  divine,  this  loving,  man.  He 
knew  no  fear  except  the  fear  of  doing  wrong.  Hating 
slavery,  pitying  the  master — seeking  to  conquer  not  per- 
sons, but  prejudices — he  was  the  embodiment  of  the  self- 
denial,  the  courage,  the  hope,  and  the  nobility  of  a  na- 
tion. He  spoke  not  to  inflame,  not  to  upbraid,  but  to 
convince.  He  raised  his  hands  not  to  strike,  but  in  bene- 
diction. 

Lincoln  was  the  grandest  figure  of  the  fiercest  Civil 
War.     He  is  the  gentlest  memory  of  our  world. 

258.  Lincoln's  Faith 

Colonel  Ingersoll  once  said  that  Lincoln's  religion  was 
the  religion  of  Voltaire  and  Paine.  No  better  refutation 
of  this  statement  exists  than  some  of  Lincoln's  own 
words,  which  he  uttered  three  weeks  before  the  battle 
of  Gettysburg  and  the  surrender  of  Vicksburg. 

Mr.  Munsell,  from  the  time  he  was  fifteen  years  old, 
had  been  a  friend  of  Lincoln.  He  was  one  of  those  whom 
Lincoln  called  "my  boys,"  and  whom  he  greeted  with 
a  double  handshake.    Mr.  Munsell,  when  in  Washington 


SELECTIONS  FOB  PRACTICE  205 

at  the  time  of  the  crisis  of  the  war,  asked  the  President 
for  five  minutes'  interview.  He  was  accorded  an  hour. 
That  night  Mr.  Lincoln  was  much  worn  and  depressed. 
He  was  alone  in  the  White  House.  Mrs.  Lincoln  and 
little  Tad  were  in  New  York.  The  great  man  said  he 
felt  unusually  lonely,  but  in  a  talk  with  his  friend  he 
grew  more  cheerful.  At  the  close  of  the  hour,  Mr.  Mun- 
sell  said : 

"Mr.  Lincoln,  in  our  dear  Illinois  we  are  anxious,  very 
anxious,  in  regard  to  the  issue  of  this  terrible  war.  "We 
have  our  hopes  and  our  fears;  sometimes  the  suspense 
is  unbearable.  You  see  the  whole  field  as  no  other  man 
sees  it,  and  seeing  it  as  you  thus  do,  can  you  say  we  shall 
come  safely  through  and  live  ? ' ' 

With  trembling  lips  and  tears  trickling  do-RTi  his 
cheeks,  the  President  replied: 

"I  do  not  doubt — I  never  have  doubted  for  a  moment 
— that  our  country  would  come  through  safe  and  un- 
divided. But  do  not  misunderstand  me ;  I  do  not  know 
how  it  can  be.  I  do  not  rely  on  the  patriotism  of  our 
people,  though  no  people  have  rallied  around  their  king 
as  ours  have  rallied  around  me.  I  do  not  trust  to  the 
bravery  of  the  Boys  in  Blue,  God  bless  them!  though 
God  never  gave  a  prince  or  conqueror  such  an  arm  as 
He  has  given  to  me.  Nor  yet  do  I  rely  on  the  loyalty 
and  skill  of  our  generals ;  though  I  believe  we  have  the 
best  generals  in  the  world  at  the  head  of  our  armies. 
But  the  God  of  our  fathers,  who  raised  up  this  country  to 
be  the  refuge  and  the  asylum  of  the  oppressed  and  down- 
trodden of  all  nations,  will  not  let  it  perish  now.  I  may 
not  live  to  see  it ;  I  do  not  expect  to  live  to  see  it,  but  God 
will  bring  us  through  safe. ' ' 

Wlien  men  are  stricken,  when  women  give  birth  to 
sons,  when  the  country  stands  in  the  deadly  hour  of 


206  AMEBIC  AN  SPEECH 

peril,  then — then  it  is  faith — faith  in  the  God  of  our 
fathers  that  tells  us  ''God  will  bring  us  through  safe." 
This  faith  had  Abraham  Lincoln. 


259.        The  Fame  of  Abraham  Lincoln 

The  life  of  Abraham  Lincoln  moved  upon  that  high, 
consistent  plane  which  the  surroundings  of  his  youth 
inspired.  Poverty  is  a  hard  but  oftentimes  a  loving 
nurse.  If  fortune  denies  the  luxuries  of  wealth,  she 
makes  generous  compensation  in  that  greater  love,  which 
they  alone  can  know  who  have  faced  privations  together. 
The  child  may  shiver  in  the  fury  of  the  blast  which  no 
maternal  tenderness  can  shield  him  from,  but  he  may 
feel  a  helpless  tear  drop  upon  his  cheek,  which  will  keep 
him  warm  till  the  snows  of  time  have  covered  his  hair. 
It  is  not  wealth  that  counts  in  the  making  of  the  world, 
but  character.  And  character  is  best  formed  amid  those 
surroundings  where  every  waking  hour  is  filled  with 
struggle,  where  no  flag  of  truce  is  ever  sent,  and  only 
darkness  stays  the  conflict. 

You  may  measure  the  heights  and  sound  the  depths; 
you  may  gain  the  great  rewards  of  power  and  renown; 
you  may  quiver  under  the  electric  current  of  applause — • 
the  time  will  come  when  these  will  fall  from  you  like  the 
rags  that  cover  your  body.  The  robes  of  power  and  the 
husks  of  pretense  will  alike  be  stripped  away,  and  you 
must  stand  at  the  end  as  you  stood  at  the  beginning — 
revealed. 

Under  such  a  test  Abraham  Lincoln  might  stand  erect, 
for  no  man  loved  the  humbler,  nobler  traits  more  earn- 
estly than  he.  What  he  pretended  to  be,  he  was;  gen- 
uine and  sincere,  he  did  not  need  embellishment. 

And  as  we  move  away  from  him,  and  years  and  events 


SELECTIONS  FOB  PRACTICE  207 

pass  between  us,  his  form  will  be  visible  and  distinct, 
for  such  characters  are  built  upon  courage  and  faith  and 
that  affection  which  is  the  seat  of  both,  and  not  play- 
things, but  the  masters  of  time. 

How  long  the  names  of  men  will  last  no  human  fore- 
sight can  discover,  but  even  against  the  havoc  and  con- 
fusion in  which  so  many  names  go  dowTi,  the  fame  of 
Lincoln  will  stand  as  immovable  and  as  long  as  the 
Pyramids  against  the  rustle  of  the  Egyptian  winds. 

260.  People  or  Pigs 

Once  upon  a  time  in  the  great  United  States  there 
was  a  little  mother  who  worked  too  hard — as  is  the  cus- 
tom of  little  mothers.  One  day,  when  dragging  herself 
around,  forcing  her  weary  body  to  work,  she  felt  a 
slight  sharp  pain  in  her  chest ;  her  head  grew  dizzy,  and 
suddenly  her  mouth  filled  with  blood.  She  consulted  a 
doctor  about  her  cough  and  he  prescribed  as  a  tonic 
some  alcohol,  water,  and  morphine.  This  gave  her  false 
strength  for  a  while  until  she  had  another  hemorrhage. 
Then  a  kind  neighbor  told  her  that  she  had  consumption. 

This  foolish  little  woman  had  heard  about  the  great 
government  that  cured  sick  animals;  so  she  A\TOte  to  the 
State  Capitol,  "I  want  to  live  and  raise  my  children  to 
make  them  good  citizens.    Wliere  can  I  go  to  get  well?" 

In  due  time  she  received  a  large  envelope  with  the 
following  information  :  "At  present  the  only  place  where 
you  can  go  is  to  a  grave.  The  State  will  care  for  your 
children  in  an  orphan  asylum  as  soon  as  you  die;  but 
save  your  life — never!  That  is  a  cranky  idea;  a  mem- 
ber on  the  floor  of  the  sixty-fifth  assembly  said  so.  Be- 
sides, saving  human  lives  isn't  our  business."  So  the 
little  mother  died  of  the  preventable,  curable  disease; 


208  AMERICAN  SPEECH 

the  home  was  broken  up,  and  the  children  were  taken 
to  the  orphan  asylum. 

One  morning,  a  big  fat  hog  found  he  had  a  pain  in 
his  abdomen  and  squealed  loudly  to  relieve  his  feelings. 
The  farmer  who  owned  him  telegraphed  to  Secretary 
Wilson  of  the  United  States  Agricultural  Department 
(who  has  three  thousand  experts  in  animal  and  plant 
disease),  and  the  reply  was,  "I'll  send  you  a  man  right 
away."  Sure  enough,  the  man  came  with  a  government 
syringe  and  a  bottle  of  government  medicine  in  his 
hand-bag,  and  he  went  for  the  hog.  It  got  well.  It 
wasn  't  cranky  for  the  Government  to  do  this,  and  it  was 
good  business,  for  the  hog  could  be  turned  into  ham, 
bacon,  and  sausage. 

Moral :  Be  a  hog  and  be  worth  saving. 


261.  An  Enemy  of  the  People 

In  this  age  of  free  thinking  and  freer  speech,  many 
evils  in  our  social  and  religious  codes  are  shown  us. 
Most  of  this  is  done  by  muckrakers,  who  live  by  pouring 
acid  into  the  sores  of  society.  But  a  few  of  those  ex- 
posing the  hypocrisies  and  contradictions  in  our  life  and 
religion  do  so  under  compulsion  of  their  great  souls. 
Such  a  man  was  Ibsen,  and  such  a  message  is  brought 
home  to  us  in  his  .masterful  work,  "An  Enemy  of  the 
People." 

The  story  is  of  a  poor  doctor  in  the  rural  districts 
of  Norway,  who  suddenly  comes  into  a  good  income  by 
being  appointed  head  physician  at  some  medicinal  baths 
in  a  neighboring  city.  These  have  just  been  installed 
by  the  citizens,  who  hoped  from  them  to  become  wealthy. 
But  as  the  doctor  experiments  with  the  water,  he  finds, 


SELECTIONS  FOB  FE  ACT  ICE  209 

to  his  dismay,  that,  by  being  led  through  a  marsh,  it  is 
poisoned,  and  that  to  make  it  pure,  extensive  and  ex- 
pensive alterations  are  imperative.  Believing  the  old 
proverb,  "The  people  are  always  right,"  the  doctor  an- 
nounces his  discovery,  and  expects  public  gratitude.  In- 
stead, he  is  met  with  resistance  on  every  hand.  Because 
of  the  cost  of  the  improvements,  public  men  ask  him  to 
conceal  his  discovery,  and  when  he  refuses,  and  shows 
that  the  water  would  kill  the  patients,  they  threaten  to 
discharge  him.  In  the  face  of  this  he  persists,  still  re- 
lying upon  the  people  to  stand  for  the  right. 

But  even  the  people  desert  him;  they  mob  him; 
' '  Enemy  of  the  People ' ' ;  and  they  fling  stones  at  him 
and  his  house.  The  doctor  is  amazed.  Suddenly  his  eyes 
are  opened  to  the  lie  in  that  old  proverb.  He  gathers 
round  him  his  wife  and  children,  outcasts  and  objects 
of  derision,  like  himself,  and  tells  them  of  his  second  and 
more  wonderful  discovery:  "The  strongest  man  in  the 
world  is  he  who  stands  most  alone. ' ' 

So,  in  this  play,  this  acted  philosophy,  are  we  shown 
how  exalted  is  he  whose  ideals  lift  him  above  the  petty 
thoughts  and  motives  of  the  multitude ;  whose  aim  is 
Truth;  whose  soul  is  not  cluttered  b}^  low  affections. 
Such  a  man  dares  to  think  for  himself;  dares  to  speak 
his  thoughts  at  the  cost  of  misunderstanding;  dares  to 
live  his  life  on  a  lofty  plane,  spurning  everything  for 
his  love  of  Truth — Right — God. 


262.  The  Predatory  Rich 

Man  climbs  slowly  up  to  better  things.  In  the  earliest 
ages  was  but  faintly  heard  tJie  demand  for  human  rights. 
It  forced  itself  upon  the  dull  ears  of  King  John.  Plead- 
ing and  sobbing  through  the  broken  prayers  that  came 


210  AMEEICAN  SPEECH 

swelling  northward  from  southern  slave-pens,  it  melted 
the  great  heart  of  Lincoln ;  and  when  his  proclamation 
went  forth,  the  shackles  fell,  and  civil  equality  was  con- 
summated. Soon,  from  out  the  shadows  of  the  future, 
grew  a  grander  hope,  a  more  majestic  ideal :  that  of 
social  equality.  To  allow  this  is  the  challenge  of  the 
future  to  America  and  to  the  world. 

Social  inequality  means  a  palace  on  the  boulevard, 
begirt  with  trees  and  flowers  and  fountains ;  means  car- 
riages and  cushioned  pews,  and  books,  and  pictures,  and 
travel — or  alas!  it  means  a  shanty  on  the  marsh  or  a 
box-like  room  in  some  tenement.  It  means  grinding, 
toil  and  hunger,  and  death  crouching  in  air;  it  means 
starved  bodies  and  shriveled  souls! 

To  the  sons  of  the  palace,  life  means  art,  music,  the 
school,  the  college.  To  the  children  of  the  poor,  it  means 
the  art  of  the  pilferer,  the  music  of  the  brothel,  the 
school  of  the  prison ! 

They  tell  us  capital  and  labor  are  at  peace.  But  what 
peace !  Not  the  glorious  gift  which  descends  like  a  dove 
from  Heaven,  but  a  dark-winged  raven,  fresh  from  the 
confines  of  Hell.  Peace  reigns.  The  laborer  may  eat 
the  crust  of  charity  or  starve,  without  a  home,  without  a 
friend ;  while  the  millionaire  pillows  himself  in  a  lux- 
urious castle,  levies  tribute  upon  the  food  and  the  fires, 
the  liberty  and  the  lives  of  the  people,  and  is  sad  only 
because  God's  free  air  cannot  also  be  preempted  and 
sold. 

Do  not  tell  me  that  labor  must  always  kneel  in  suppli- 
cation for  the  crumbs  from  Dives'  table.  That  bended 
knee  means  not  servility,  but  the  crouch  of  despair, 
waiting  to  leap  at  the  soft  and  scornful  face  above. 

Some  there  are  who  foretell  a  state  without  a  Dives 
or  a  Lazarus.    We  call  them  dreamers.     Others  see  only 


SELECTIONS  FOB  PRACTICE  211 

chaos;  the  disruption  of  society.  They  impeach  the 
Deity.  Still  others  toil  aud  pray  that  some  day,  some- 
how, in  this  garden  of  the  world,  willing  labor  be  not 
compelled  to  beg  daily  bread;  that  the  children  of  the 
poor  may  be  fed  of  body  and  soul.  Jehovah  hears  that 
prayer.  Some  day  America  shall  proudly  boast  "We 
have  no  predatory  rich  ! ' '  Strong  in  the  might  of  right 
we  shall  mount  this  new  step — 

"Upon  the  world's  great  altar  stairs 
That  slope  through  darkness  up  to  God.  ' ' 


263.  Aliens  in  America 

On  their  way  to  the  opera  one  night  last  winter,  two 
fashionably^  dressed  young  men  were  accidentally  be- 
spattered by  an  Italian  street-sweeper.  Very  humbly 
the  offender  stammered  his  apologies,  but  to  no  effect, 
judging  from  the  abuse  the  young  men  showered  upon 
him,  and  from  their  final  fling:  "What  else  can  you 
expect  from  a  —  Dago  ? "  At  the  opera  that  night,  the 
same  men  heard  a  work  composed  by  an  Italian,  con- 
ducted by  an  Italian,  sung  by  Italians,  and  accompanied 
by  an  orchestra  consisting  largely  of  Italians — all  com- 
patriots of  that  street-sweeper;  and  I  thought  first,  of 
sunny  Italy,  the  mother  of  modern  art,  and  all  she  has 
achieved  for  humanity;  and  then,  of  the  contemptuous 
fling  at  her  people  by  one  hastening  to  enjoy  her  music. 

Then  the  question  suggested  itself:  What  if,  instead 
of  an  Italian,  the  street-sweeper  had  been  a  Jew?  In 
all  probability,  the  vituperation  would  have  been  more 
violent  in  tone,  and  more  vicious  in  intent,  and  the 
epithet,  "dirty  Jew,"  would  have  been  conspicuous. 

It  is  true,  the  Kussian  Jewish  street-vendor  is  not  a 


212  AMEEICAN  SPEECH 

sightly  personage.  His  clothes  are  shabby,  his  beard  is 
unkempt,  his  back  bent,  his  gait  shuffling.  From  all 
appearances,  he  deserves  the  epithet.  But  the  street- 
sweeper  is  not  the  type  of  all  Italians,  nor  is  the  street- 
vendor  the  type  of  all  Jews.  He  is  not  even  responsible 
for  what  he  is.  This  Italian  may  be  low  in  the  social 
scale  from  choice ;  this  Jew  has  been  laid  low  by  persecu- 
tion. 

There  are  those  who  claim  that  two  reasons  why  there 
is  little  love  for  the  Jew  today,  are :  he  is  unlike  his 
biblical  ancestors ;  he  has  become  debased  in  character 
and  ideal.  Of  all  the  charges  against  the  Jew,  the  one 
of  materialism  and  lack  of  ideal  is  the  most  unjust.  Who 
but  an  idealist  could  have  conceived  the  theology  and 
morality  of  the  Hebrew  Scriptures  ?  Who  but  an  ideal- 
ist could  have  suffered  for  centuries  for  his  faith 's  sake, 
and  still  cling  to  his  God?  Who  but  an  idealist  could 
have  been  lowered  to  the  dregs  of  the  earth,  and  yet 
keep  his  spirit  on  the  heights;  keep  inviolate  the  purity 
of  his  home  life ;  keep  himself  comparatively  a  stranger 
in  the  divorce  courts,  in  the  inebriate  asylum,  and  upon 
the  gallows? 

Egypt,  Nineveh,  Babylon,  sought  wealth ;  today,  the 
curious  gape  at  piles  of  stone,  the  remains  of  the  empires 
that  made  gold  the  end  of  life.  Greece  made  beauty  the 
goal ;  her  people  are  today  the  memory  of  a  charming 
idyl.  Rome  craved  power  onl}'  to  be  devoured  by  the 
monster  her  brutality  conjured  forth.  Israel  sought 
truth,  and  right,  and  justice ;  Israel  lives ! 


264.  The  Common  Man 

The  common  man  is  not  necessarily  a  mechanic  always, 
nor  a  scavenger,  nor  a  lawyer,  nor  a  carpenter,  nor  a 


SELECTIONS  FOB  FB  ACT  ICE  213 

preacher.  He  is  everything  and  all  things  that  are  all 
about  in  life.  He  is  the  everyday  man,  the  matter-of- 
course  man ;  but  in  spite  of  that,  he  rules  the  world.  He 
can  stop  its  business  any  day.  He  can  make  a  run  on 
its  banks  that  will  compel  any  one  of  them  to  close  its 
doors.  He  is  the  most  tremendous  human  force  beneath 
the  sky. 

He  is  not  mediocre  because  he  is  common.  To  be 
mediocre  is  to  be  commonplace,  and  there  is  no  law 
that  common  man  must  be  commonplace.  Gifts  are  not 
necessary  for  acts  that  are  worth  while;  that  is,  gifts 
more  than  the  ordinary  ones  of  muscle,  nerves,  eyes, 
ears,  and  will. 

There  is  no  sense  in  thinking  that  one  cannot  escape 
being  commonplace  except  by  doing  some  great  thing. 
There  are  not  many  great  things  to  be  done  and  there 
are  too  many  people  who  think  they  are  great,  to  give 
every  one  of  them  a  part  in  life 's  great  actions. 

There  was  one  great  admiral  in  Japan's  navy,  but  it 
was  the  multitude  of  common  men,  little  brown  men, 
obeying  orders,  that  made  Togo's  victories  possible. 
Each  little  man  had  his  own  little  thing  to  do ;  and  he 
did  it ;  did  his  owm  common  thing  in  a  very  uncommon 
manner,  and  so  the  battle  of  the  Sea  of  Japan  went 

into  history. 

There  was  a  slave  who  climbed  the  spire  of  St.  Michaels 
in  Charleston  and  plucked  down  a  brand  that  had  al- 
ready begun  its  work  of  destruction,  and  thereby  saved 
the  church  and  earned  his  freedom.  That  was  a  great 
thing.  There  was  no  other  negro  in  Charleston,  nor 
white  man,  great  enough  to  do  a  thing  like  that.  But 
every  day  every  negro  and  every  white  man  could  have 
done  some  little  helpful  thing,  and  a  yesv  full  of  such 
helpful  things  one  each  day  for  the  three  hundred  and 


214  AMERICAN  SPEECH 

sixty-five  days,   would  have  lifted  every  one  of  them 
off  the  level  of  mediocrity. 

And  the  joys  of  the  common  man  are  very  real.  He 
can  enjoy  a  drink  from  the  brook  at  the  roadside,  where 
an  old  tin  cup  or  his  hollowed  hand  is  all  that  he  has  to 
drink  from.  Your  millionaire  would  not  do  that,  can- 
not do  it.  Your  common  man  can  pluck  a  tomato  from 
the  vine  in  the  field  where  he  toils  and  eat  it,  sun- 
kissed  and  luscious.  Your  aristocrat  cannot  do  that. 
Your  common  man  can  cut  a  sapling,  pull  a  cotton  string 
from  his  pocket,  tie  it  around  a  grasshopper,  and  land 
a  handsome  trout  while  your  high-rubbered,  flank- 
basketed,  four-ounce  rod  fisherman  from  the  city  whips 
with  a  dozen  sets  of  flies  and  never  a  rise.  Hurrah 
for  the  common  man!  He  is  the  world's  strength,  and 
with  all  reverence  he  will  be  the  world's  savior. 


265.  Puritan  Principles 

The  glory  of  the  Puritan  is  not  what  he  actually  pro- 
duced, so  much  as  what  he  enabled  others  to  do.  Lord 
Bacon,  as  he  takes  his  proud  march  down  the  centuries, 
may  place  one  hand  on  the  telegraph  and  the  other  on 
the  steamboat,  and  say,  "These  are  mine,  for  I  taught 
you  to  invent."  And  the  Puritan,  wherever  he  finds  a 
free  altar,  free  lips,  aye,  a  free  family,  may  say,  "These 
are  mine,  for  I  planted  them  on  Plymouth  Rock."  No 
matter  for  the  stain  of  bigotry  which  rests  upon  his 
memory,  since  he  taught  us  these. 

The  error  in  judging  the  Puritan  has  been  that  we 
have  not  considered  development  when  we  criticized. 
Men  look  back  upon  the  Carvers  and  the  Bradfords  of 
1620,  and  seem  to  think,  if  they  existed  in  1910,  they 
would  be  clad  in  the  same  garments,  and  walking  about 


SELECTIONS  FOE  PRACTICE  215 

in  the  same  identical  manner  as  they  did  in  1620. 

It  is  a  mistake.  The  Pilgrims  of  1620  would  in  1910, 
not  be  fighting  witches,  but  combating  boss  rule  in 
politics  and  the  tyranny  of  capital.  "Thee  and  thou," 
a  stationary  hat,  bad  grammar,  and  worse  manners,  with 
an  ugly  coat,  are  not  George  Fox  in  1910;  you  will 
recognize  him  in  anyone  who  rises  from  the  lap  of  arti- 
ficial life,  flings  away  its  softness  and  startles  you  with 
the  sight  of  a  man. 

No,  Puritan  principles  cannot  be  cramped  within  the 
narrow  limits  of  the  old  Bay  Colony  and  the  seventeenth 
century.  Plymouth  Kock  underlies  all  American 
history;  it  not  only  cropped  out  at  Plymouth,  it  has 
cropped  out  a  great  many  times  in  our  history.  Old 
Putnam  stood  upon  it  at  Bunker  Hill  when  he  said  to 
the  Yankee  boys,  "Don't  fire  until  you  see  the  whites 
of  their  eyes."  Ingraham  had  it  for  ballast  when  he 
put  his  little  sloop  betwen  two  Austrian  frigates  and 
threatened  to  blow  them  out  of  the  water  if  they  did  not 
respect  the  broad  eagle  of  the  United  States.  Jefferson 
had  it  for  a  writing  desk  when  he  drafted  the  declaration 
of  Independence.  Lovejoy  rested  his  musket  upon  it 
when  they  would  not  let  him  print  at  Alton,  and  he  said, 
"Death  or  free  speech."  The  rock  cropped  out  again 
and  Garrison  had  it  for  an  imposing  stone,  when  he 
looked  into  the  faces  of  seventeen  millions  of  angry  men 
and  printed  his  sublime  pledge,  "I  will  not  retreat  a 
single  inch,  and  I  will  be  heard." 

So  has  the  Puritan  been  vindicated  by  his  children. 
Always  has  America  clung  to  the  principle  of  individual 
right.  Down  through  the  weary  ages  of  colonial  his- 
tory, even  to  our  present  day,  the  American  pulse  has 
beaten  in  unquailing,  never-faltering  allegiance  to  the 
Puritan  principle  of  the  sacredness  of  man. 


216  AMERICAN  SPEECH 

266.  War  a  Symbol  of  Duty 

The  feelings  which  characterize  the  whole  nation  at 
this  hour  are  not  feelings  which  can  be  suitably  ex- 
pressed in  terms  of  attempted  oratory  or  eloquence. 
They  are  things  too  deep  for  ordinary  speech.  The 
feeling  that  is  uppermost  is  one  of  profound  grief  that 
these  lads  should  have  had  to  go  to  their  death,  and  yet 
there  is  mixed  with  that  grief  a  profound  pride  that 
they  should  have  gone  as  they  did,  and  a  touch  of 
envy  of  those  who  were  permitted  so  quietly,  so  nobly, 
to  do  their  duty. 

Have  you  thought  of  it,  men?  Here  is  the  roster  of 
the  navy,  the  list  of  the  men,  officers,  and  enlisted  men 
and  marines,  and  suddenly  there  swim  nineteen  stars  out 
of  the  list — men  who  have  suddenly  gone  into  a  firma- 
ment of  memory,  where  we  shall  always  see  their  names 
shine ;  not  because  they  called  upon  us  to  admire  them, 
but  because  they  served  us,  without  asking  any  ques- 
tions and  in  the  performance  of  a  duty  which  is  laid 
upon  us  as  well  as  upon  them. 

Duty  is  not  an  uncommon  thing,  gentlemen.  Men  are 
performing  it  in  the  ordinary  walks  of  life  all  around 
us,  all  the  time,  and  they  are  making  great  sacrifices 
to  perform  it.  Wliat  gives  men  like  these  peculiar  dis- 
tinction, is  not  merely  that  they  did  their  duty,  but  that 
their  duty  had  nothing  to  do  with  them  or  their  o^vn 
personal  and  peculiar  interests.  They  did  not  give 
their  lives  for  themselves.  They  gave  their  lives  for  us, 
because  we  called  upon  them  as  a  nation  to  perform  an 
unexpected  duty.  That  is  the  way  in  which  men  grow 
distinguished  and  that  is  the  only  way,  by  serving  some- 
body else  than  ourselves.  And  what  greater  thing  could 
you  serve  than  a  nation  such  as  this  we  love  and  are 


SELECTIONS  FOB  PRACTICE  217 

proud  of?  Are  you  sorry  for  these  lads?  Are  you 
sorry  for  the  way  they  will  be  remembered?  Does  it 
not  quicken  your  pulses  to  think  of  the  list  of  them?  I 
hope  to  God  none  of  you  may  join  the  list,  but  if  you 
do,  you  will  join  an  immortal  company. 

Notice  that  these  men  were  of  our  blood.  I  mean 
of  our  American  blood,  which  is  not  drawn  from  any 
one  country,  which  is  not  drawn  from  any  one  stock, 
which  is  not  drawn  from  any  one  language  of  the  modern 
world;  but  free  men,  everywhere,  have  sent  their  sons 
and  brothers  and  their  daughters  to  this  country  in  or- 
der to  make  that  great  compounded  nation  which  con- 
sists of  all  the  sturdy  elements  and  of  all  the  best  ele- 
ments of  the  whole  globe,  I  listened  again  to  this  list 
with  a  profound  interest  at  the  mixture  of  names,  for 
the  names  bear  the  marks  of  the  several  national  stocks 
from  which  these  men  came.  But  they  are  not  Irishmen 
or  Germans  or  Frenclimen  or  Hebrews  any  more.  They 
were  not  when  they  went  to  Vera  Cniz;  they  were 
Americans,  every  one  of  them,  and  with  no  difference 
in  their  Americanism  because  of  the  stock  from  which 
they  came. 

They  were  in  a  peculiar  sense  of  our  blood,  and  they 
proved  it  by  showing  that  they  were  of  our  spirit — 
that  no  matter  w^hat  their  derivation,  no  matter  where 
their  people  came  from,  they  thought  and  wished  and 
did  the  things  that  were  American,  and  the  flag  under 
which  they  served  was  a  flag  in  which  all  the  blood  of 
mankind  is  united  to  make  a  free  nation. 

267.  The  Spirit  of  the  Past 

Upon  America  hangs  the  fate  of  the  Western  world. 
Endowed,    above   all    other   nations,    with   intelligence, 


218  AMERICAN  SPEECH 

energy,  and  force,  unhampered  by  the  splendid  ruins 
of  a  past  which,  however  great,  does  but  encumber ;  the 
American  people,  it  would  seem,  are  called  upon  in  a 
pre-eminent  degree,  to  determine  the  form  that  the  so- 
ciety of  the  future  shall  assume. 

For  a  century  past  America  has  drawn  to  herself  by 
an  irresistible  attraction,  the  boldest,  the  most  master- 
ful, the  most  practically  intelligent  men  of  Europe.  And 
by  the  same  law  she  has  repelled  the  sensitive,  the  con- 
templative, and  the  devout.  Over  her  unencumbered 
plains  the  Genius  of  Industry  ranges  unchallenged, 
naked,  unashamed.  In  Europe  it  still  has  to  fight  for  its 
supremacy ;  for  there  it  is  confronted  with  the  debris  of 
an  earlier  society,  with  ideals,  habits,  institutions,  monu- 
ment, traditions — alien  to  its  achievements  and  incom- 
prehensible to  its  aims.  Cathedral  churches,  splendid 
palaces,  manors,  and  parks,  moss-grown  cottages,  per- 
petuate the  tradition  of  ranks  and  orders,  ancient,  hered- 
itary, and  fixed.  In  Europe,  in  a  word,  the  modern 
spirit  has  to  contend  with  an  ancient  culture ;  in  America 
it  is  free. 

We  stand  at  the  parting  of  the  ways.  The  question 
looms  before  us  : — have  the  triumphs  gained  by  our  coun- 
trymen over  matter  and  space — have  their  immense 
achievements  in  the  development  of  the  practical  arts 
— have  these  been  secured  at  the  cost  of  finer  feeling  and 
force  ?  Is  that  spirit  which  created  religion,  the  arts,  the 
speculation  of  the  past — that  spirit  of  unquenchable 
aspiration  which  has  assumed,  in  its  tireless  quest  for 
embodiment,  forms  so  alluring,  so  terrible,  so  divine — 
which  has  luxuriated  in  the  jungle  of  Hindoo  myths, — 
blossomed  in  the  Pantheon  of  the  Greeks, — suffered  on 
the  cross, — perished  at  the  stake, — wasted  in  the  cloister 
and  the  cell, — which  has  given  life  to  marble, — substance 


SELECTIONS  FOB  PRACTICE  219 

to  color, — structure  to  fugitive  sound, — is  that  spirit  to 
urge  as  of  old  the  reluctant  wheels  of  our  destiny  ?  Or 
are  we  to  fill  our  bellies  with  the  husks  of  comfort,  se- 
curity, and  peace?  Are  we  to  be  spirits  or  intelligent 
brutes,  men  or  mere  machines  ? 

The  foundations  of  our  future  have  barely  been  made ; 
nay,  the  very  plans  of  the  building  have  not  yet  been 
drawn.  But  the  lesson,  the  spirit  of  the  past,  should  be 
our  only  guides  in  its  construction.  Then,  and  then  only, 
will  the  beaten  path  to  its  portals  become  so  familiar  to 
our  feet  that,  even  while  we  pace  it,  we  turn  our  gaze 
up  to  the  eternal  stars. 

268.  Life  Through  Socialisivi 

"A  man  may  die  for  another  man's  life-work,  but  if 
he  live  he  must  live  for  his  own." 

So  says  Ibsen,  so  cries  every  city,  so  rings  every  fac- 
tory, every  mill  in  this  country.  Living  under  the  ban 
of  a  commercial  oligarchy,  we  see  on  every  side  men 
who  are  dying  for  the  life-work  of  the  few  whom  luck 
has  placed  above  them. 

Can't  you  imagine  way  off  yonder  in  Pittsburgh  the 
fitful  glare  of  the  furnace  as  it  catches  the  half-naked, 
starving  bodies  of  the  incessant  toilers?  Can't  you 
imagine  off  to  the  South  the  little  children  trudging  to 
the  day's  work  at  the  mill?  You  ask,  "Where  are  the 
older  ones?"  that  you  might  give  to  them  the  burden. 
Ah!  that's  the  pity  of  it  all,  these  consumptive  children 
of  toil  never  grow  old.  Can't  you  see  in  New  York  the 
ten-by-ten  room  of  a  family, — a  family  toiling  as  they 
await  death  ?  Can 't  you  see  all  about  the  small  business 
man  crushed  by  a  system  of  commercial  monopoly  held 
to  be  a  necessity  to  the  country  ? 


220  AMERICAN  SPEECH 

Yes,  railroad  wreck,  mine  disaster,  an  appalling  death 
rate  in  the  South,  daily  thousands  of  children  born  con- 
sumptive in  New  York   City, — point  to  the  fact  that 
today  we  can  only  live  by  dying  for  the  life-work  of 
others. 

But  there  is  hope.  There  has  dawned  in  the  sky  in 
later  years  a  new  thought.  Laughed  at  and  scorned, 
crucified  upon  the  bitter  cross  of  public  ridicule, — So- 
cialism still  struggles  on,  giving  hope  to  those  who  now 
live  only  to  die.  Promises  are  all  that  it  now  brings, 
but,  oh,  what  balm  are  these  few  words  to  the  working- 
man  of  today.  They  foretell  the  end  of  clinging  capital, 
the  end  of  the  unearned  increment,  the  end  of  the  insane 
accumulation  of  the  country's  force  and  life  in  the  hands 
of  the  few. 

Though  we  may  laugh  at  this  principle,  though  we  may 
scorn  it,  yes,  though  we  may  hate  it,  yet  we  cannot  but 
feel  the  pulse  of  the  workingman  when  he  cries,  as  he 
has  cried.  North,  South,  East,  and  West, — 

''We  have  died  for  the  life-work  of  others,  but  by  the 
grace  of  Socialism,  we  will  live  for  our  own." 

269.  We  Poor  Dead 

They  have  now  covered  up  our  hot  breath  with  earth. 
Why  are  you  blinking  at  me  with  your  bleared  eyes,  my 
brother?  Are  you  not  glad?  Don't  they  envy  us  our 
sweet  death  ?  They  have  laid  us  out  in  picturesque  rows, 
and  you  need  only  turn  your  head  to  rub  against  human 
flesh,  and  if  you  turn  your  hollow  eyeball,  you  can  see 
nothing  but  corpses  in  the  twilight.  One  beside  the 
other,  that  is  how  they  are  sleeping.  And  corpse  upon 
corpse  ever  more  of  them,  through  the  whole  of  the  loose 
soil  of  the  potato  field,  and  we  even  fill  the  whole  adjoin^ 
ing  field  of  roots. 


SELECTIONS  FOB  FE  ACT  ICE  221 

Wonder  whether  the  sun  still  goes  on  shining  above 
us  ? — Whether  they  still  know  how  to  laugh  in  the  towns 
as  we  used  to  in  our  time  ?  Wonder  whether  my  wife 
still  goes  on  remembering  her  dead  husband — and  my 
two  kiddies — whether  they  have  already  forgotten  their 
father?     They  were  so  tiny  at  the  time. 

We  poor  dead  heroes!  So  do  not  disturb  our  last 
sleep.  We  had  to  die  to  enable  others  to  live.  We  died 
for  our  native  land  in  its  straits.  We  are  victorious  now, 
and  have  won  land  and  fame,  land  enough  for  millions 
of  our  brothers.  Our  wives  have  land,  our  children,  our 
mothers,  our  fathers  have  land.  And  now  our  poor 
native  land  has  air  to  breathe.  It  need  no  longer  be 
stifled.  They  have  cleared  the  air  of  us.  They  have  got 
rid  of  us,  of  us  who  were  far  too  many.  We  are  no 
longer  eating  the  bread  away  from  other  folks'  mouths. 
We  are  so  full-fed,  so  full-fed  and  quiet.  But  they  have 
got  land !  Fertile  land  !  And  ore  !  Iron  mines !  Gold  ! 
And  bread ! 

Come,  brother  philosopher,  let  us  turn  our  faces  to  the 
earth.  Let  us  sleep  upon  our  laurels,  and  let  us  dream 
of  nothing  but  our  country's  future. 


270.  GOVERKMENT  AND   BUSINESS 

At  a  public  dinner  in  New  York  a  year  ago  the  sub- 
ject for  discussion  was  "The  Relation  of  Government  to 
Business. ' '  One  of  the  speakers  opened  his  address  with 
the  following  striking  sentence :  ' '  The  most  remarkable 
thing  about  the  relations  of  the  government  to  business 
seems  to  me  to  be  that  it  is  necessary  to  discuss  them 
at  all." 

This  statement  expresses  better  than  pages  of  descrip- 
tion the  attitude  of  many  exponents  of  Big  Business 


222  AMERICAN  SPEECH 

today.  Business  must  not  be  impeded  in  its  triumphal 
progress.  No  wrong  may  be  righted,  no  injustice  may  be 
checked,  because  such  action  would  "disturb  business." 
Years  ago  such  an  attitude  was  even  more  common,  but 
in  these  days  many  of  our  industrial  kings  have  seen 
the  handwriting  on  the  wall,  and  have  amended  their 
speech  if  not  their  practices.  A  large  remnant,  however, 
has  not  yet  comprehended  the  message. 

Such  industrial  survivals  of  past  ages  do  not  realize 
that  they  are  living  in  a  new  world.  They  do  not  see  that 
they  are  loudly  proclaiming  the  divine  right  of  kings  to 
an  age  which  has,  decisively  and  finally,  repudiated  that 
doctrine.  The  story  of  King  Canute  conveys  no  meaning 
to  them.  We  are  told  that  this  monarch  set  up  his 
throne  on  the  seashore  and  commanded  the  waves  to 
refrain  from  approaching  him.  The  waves  wet  the  royal 
feet,  and  if  the  throne  had  not  been  removed  would  have 
drenched  and  overwhelmed  the  royal  person.  This  hap- 
pened 900  years  ago,  and  similar  commands  to  respect 
royalty  are  no  more  powerful  today.  Our  Captain  of 
Industry  must  come  to  realize  this  fact. 

A  condition  exists.  The  great  organizations  are  here, 
and  in  some  form  or  other  are  likely  to  remain.  Shall 
we  see  that  they  keep  within  the  laws  as  thus  far  inter- 
preted, meanwhile  collecting  all  the  facts  which  will 
enable  us  to  make  a  final  decision,  or  shall  we  allow  them 
to  go  their  own  way  except  as  they  are  restrained  by  the 
fear  of  the  Attorney  General  ?  Surely  there  can  be  but 
one  answer. 


271.  The  Hills  of  Death 

Down  there,  if  you  have  any  blood,  any  brain, — if  you 
have  any  heart,  you  can  get  to  the  depths  of  life.    As 


SELECTIONS  FOB  PRACTICE  223 

elsewhere  the  bottom  of  life  is  known  by  the  curses  of 
men  as  Hell,  and  by  the  hope  of  women  the  top  of  life 
is  breathlessly  known  as  God. 

The  sound  of  the  shaft,  the  rumble  of  coal  through 
the  breakers,  make  their  ceaseless  gutturals,  while  life 
throbs  on  its  own  strange  rhythm.  The  restlessness  of 
men  makes  the  city  seethe  in  turmoil,  and  the  agony  of 
labor  beneath  the  city  streets  sets  earth  a-groaning. 
Fathers,  brothers,  sons  expire  as  they  sweat  for  bread, 
and  the  timelessness  of  labor  lives  on.  "Men  must  work, 
men  must  weep"  all  the  earth  over. 

In  the  Hills  of  Death  men  must  curse, — and  men  must 
work ;  M' omen  must  weep — and  women  must  work ;  chil- 
dren may  moan — but  must  work. 

To  the  breaker  at  twelve,  fingers  shredded  by  hot, 
edged  slate;  to  the  mines  at  fourteen — till  the  back  is 
bent,  and  the  lungs  are  stuffed,  the  man  misshapen  with 
burden.  Then,  back  to  the  breaker,  old  men.  In  their 
second  childhood  they  are  among  boys  who  have  no  child- 
hood !  Over  the  valley  smoke  and  dust  stretch  out  like 
streamers  of  death.  Crepe !  No  death  is  w^hite  unless  it 
comes  to  the  cradle. 

The  very  air  is  pregnant.  The  passing  of  a  train  has 
meaning  in  it — a  glad  departure — a  father,  mother,  two 
little  children  going  home ;  a  father  and  two  little  chil- 
dren going  home,  the  mother  gone  home.  At  night  on 
the  culm-pile  in  the  blaze  of  light,  a  watchman !  Smoke 
from  the  breakers  all  day.  A  miner's  hand  dirty  with 
blood. 

Children  are  bred  in  litters  down  there.  Cripples 
beget  children  with  the  ' '  waste  of  life ' '  in  their  narrow, 
withered  bones  sticking  through  skins. 

From  the  bank  of  the  Susquehanna  stand  and  absorb 
the  loveliness  of  the  Hills  of  Death.     The  view  smiles — 


224  AMEEICAN  SPEECH 

nay,  grimaces.  The  river  winds  like  a  belt  of  silver 
among  the  hills.  The  sun  shines  and  the  lightning 
flashes.  But  above  it  all  is  the  threatening — and  you  are 
bowed,  humbled — you  crouch,  and,  it  may  be,  you  crawl. 
Mothers  from  their  thin  breasts  suckle  their  babes.  Men 
grow  fat  on  the  sugar  of  greed.  Birds  sing,  but  children 
screech.  A  white  flower  blooms.  It  is  soiled  with  soot. 
Men  take  disease  from  a  chalice.  But  still  the  sun  shines 
and  the  river  runs  and  life  throbs  on  and  on — and  out. 


272.    The  Sculptured  Figures  of  Society 

Over  the  doorway  of  one  of  New  York's  sky-scraping 
office  buildings  four  great  sculptured  figures  are  posed 
in  crouching  attitudes.  With  bowed  heads,  tense  fea- 
tures, and  muscles  strained  like  whip-cords,  they  seem  to 
carry  on  their  broad  shoulders  the  terrific  weight  of 
twenty  or  more  stories  of  masonry.  Theirs  is  really  only 
a  pose,  the  pretense  of  the  strenuous.  They  are  really 
supporting  no  weight ;  they  were  put  in  after  the  build- 
ing was  completed ;  they  could  be  removed  without  af- 
fecting its  safety  in  the  slightest.  They  have  no  more 
real  responsibility  than  a  wandering  fly,  tarrying  a  mo- 
ment on  the  flag-pole  on  the  roof. 

There  are  thousands  of  these  sculptured  figures  in  the 
world  today — men  whose  pretense  is  measured  in  tons 
and  whose  performance  is  counted  in  ounces.  It  is  the 
colossal  effect  to  seem  rather  than  to  be,  the  heroic,  never- 
ending  attempt  to  appear  important. 

One  type  of  the  sculptured  figure  is  the  man  who 
poses  as  an  intellectual  Atlas  holding  up  the  firmament 
of  thought.  All  the  great  problems  of  life  that  have 
baffled  tlie  sages  for  years  are  as  luminant  to  him  as  an 
electric-light  sign  on  a  dark  street.     He  has  read,  per- 


SELECTIONS  FOE  PEACTICE  225 

haps,  partially  through  one  volume  of  Spencer  or  Darwin 
and  talks  elaborately,  with  a  heavy,  orotund  voice  of 
finality,  of  evolution.  Every  weak  spot  in  religion  is 
known  to  him,  and  where  he  cannot  find  a  leak  he  makes 
one.  Though  he  has  never  accomplished  anything  in  life, 
he  feels  absolutely  sure  that  he  could  run  this  mighty 
government  of  ours  and  bring  justice  in  on  schedule  time 
on  every  issue. 

Men  of  real  importance  think  too  much  of  their  work 
to  think  much  of  themselves.  Their  great  interest,  enthu- 
siasm, and  absorption  in  their  world  of  effort  eclipse  all 
pettiness.  They  are  living  their  life,  not  playing  a  part. 
They  are  burning  incense  at  the  shrine  of  a  great  pur- 
pose, not  to  their  own  vanity.  They  ever  have  poise — not 
pose. 


273.  Chivalry 

The  mists  of  three  hundred  years  reveal  to  us  only  the 
rugged  outlines  of  chivalry.  The  poetry,  the  pathos,  the 
passion  which  invested  it;  the  thrilling  incidents  and 
stronger  delights  to  which  it  gave  birth,  tlie  charaiing 
witchery  of  its  sports  and  pastimes  are  shrouded  in  mys- 
tery. The  knights  and  courtiers  of  the  middle  ages  seem 
little  more  than  aimless  dreamers  in  coats  of  mail,  roam- 
ing the  world  over  in  quest  of  mad  adventure. 

But  the  heroes  of  the  joust  and  tourney  were  not  mere 
puppets  in  the  world's  drama.  They  fulfilled  a  mission 
rivaling  in  its  beauty  the  wildest  dreams  of  fancy.  It 
took  the  name  of  honor;  and  mankind  grew  grave  and 
courteous.  It  took  the  form  of  religion  and  fought  for 
the  Holy  Sepulchre.  It  showed  itself  in  gallantry,  and 
helpless  innocence  found  a  sturdy,  strong  defense.     It 


226  AMERICAN  SPEECH 

took  the  name  of  letters,  and  behold  the  perfect  bloom  in 
English  romance. 

The  shouts  of  the  lists  had  long  since  died  away  in  the 
trembling  air,  when  the  task  was  given  to  the  Bard  of 
Abbotsford,  Walter  Scott,  to  touch  with  magic  wand  the 
fast  decaying  germ  of  fiction,  and  to  quicken  it  into 
perpetual  life  and  beauty. 

From  over  the  blue  Castilian  hills  he  caught  the  echo 
of  the  numbers  that  chronicled  the  exploits  of  the  Cid. 
From  France  and  sunny  Italy  the  music  of  the  trouba- 
dours floated  up  to  his  mountain  home,  heralding  the 
valorous  achievements  of  the  old  Provencal  knights,  and 
ever  from  the  dark  forests  of  Germany  the  lays  of  the 
minstrels  came  ringing  over  the  Scottish  heather,  telling 
of  Charlemagne  and  his  peerless  paladins.  Scott's  great 
heart  thrilled  under  this  divine  influence,  and  not  until 
he  had  told  how  he  of  the  Lion  Heart  met  the  Saracen 
upon  the  plains  of  Palestine ;  how  Marmion  fought  the 
specter  knights  in  the  ruined  abbey;  how  Ivanhoe, 
wounded,  bleeding,  fainting,  crossed  swords  with  Bois- 
Gilbert  for  Rebecca 's  sake ;  did  the  world  know  the 
legacy  chivalry  had  left  to  the  literature  of  romance. 

274.  The  Wandering  Jew 

Out  of  the  darkness  of  the  feudal  ages  comes  the 
strange,  weird  tradition  of  the  Wandering  Jew.  The 
legend  tells  us  that  Jesus,  while  on  his  way  to  Calvary, 
bending  beneath  the  heavy  cross,  stopped  to  rest  before 
the  house  of  a  Jewish  shoemaker,  who  thereupon  pushed 
him  away,  exclaiming,  ' '  Go  on  !     Go  on  ! " 

Jesus  looked  at  him  and  said,  ''I  shall  stand  and  rest, 
but  thou  shalt  go  on  to  the  end  of  time. ' ' 

The  shoemaker  straightway  became  a  wanderer,  unable 


SELECTIONS  FOB  PRACTICE  227 

to  rest,  unable  to  die.  This  haggard,  wayworn  pilgrim, 
forlornly  roaming  the  earth,  is  the  type  of  the  Hebrew 
race,  wandering,  sorrowful,  deathless;  driven  on  from 
land  to  land,  from  age  to  age,  by  human  hatred,  human 
scorn. 

Sometimes  the  darkness  lifts  a  little,  and  reveals  fleet- 
ing glimpses  of  the  tragic  scene.  It  is  a  winter  night  at 
Moscow.  To  the  north  of  the  city  lies  the  Jewish  suburb. 
The  people  are  asleep.  Around  stretches  the  frozen  for- 
est. Out  of  the  city  steals  a  band  of  Cossacks.  The  little 
suburb  is  surrounded.  With  whip  and  saber  the  helpless 
people  are  driven  from  their  burning  homes.  Gathering 
in  the  woods,  the  Jews  kindle  a  few  branches  to  keep 
from  freezing;  the  soldiers  follow  them  and  stamp  out 
the  fire.  In  the  cold  light  of  the  morning,  among  the 
white  stones  of  a  Christian  cemetery,  lie  the  frozen  bodies 
of  the  dead.  And  this  in  tlie  twilight  of  the  nineteenth 
century ! 

Denied  all  means  of  development,  the  Jew  became 
stunted,  narrow,  fierce,  revengeful.  Christianity  grasped 
the  scepter  and  meted  out  the  savage  law  of  destruction, 
until  the  whole  world  became  a  hell  of  torture  to  the 
despised  Jew.  Eighteen  centuries  of  such  grinding 
tyranny  left  the  marks  of  their  fetters  on  his  soul.  With 
the  avenues  of  ever>'  occupation  barred  to  him  as  with 
gates  of  brass,  from  a  farmer  and  a  shepherd  he  became 
a  trader  and  a  cunning  money-lender,  a  product  of  a 
hundred  generations  of  repression  and  wrong. 

These  were  God's  chosen  people,  for  never  did  a  nation 
lay  the  hand  of  violence  upon  them  but  divine  vengeance 
overtook  it.  Egypt  enslaved  them  and  lies  buried  in  the 
sands  of  the  desert.  The  Roman  church  struck  the  chil- 
dren of  Jacob,  and  her  arm  withered  in  the  blow.  Spain 
drove  them  from  her  shores,  and  within  a  hundred  years, 


228  AMERICAN  SPEECH 

in  the  boom  of  Drake's  cannon,  the  clock  of  her  history 
struck  twelve,  and  she  sits  today  a  sheeted  skeleton 
among  the  governments  of  Europe. 

The  tragic  story  of  the  Wandering  Jew  is  drawing  to 
its  close.  Breaking  the  fetters  of  prejudice  and  hate, 
man  stands  to  his  full  stature  and  begins  to  learn  the 
meaning  of  that  commandment,  "Love  thy  neighbor  as 
thyself."  Suffering  and  wrong  still  live  and  will  long 
give  battle  in  the  darkened  places  of  the  w^orld ;  but  God 
rules!  and  truth  and  justice  and  the  love  of  man  for 
man  shall  triumph  at  the  last. 


275.  The  Children  of  the  Poor 

If  you  could  know  the  life  of  one  of  those  poor  lepers 
of  Boston,  you  would  wonder  and  weep.  Let  me  take  one 
of  them  at  random  out  of  the  mass.  He  was  born,  unwel- 
come, amid  wretchedness  and  want.  His  coming  in- 
creased both.  Miserably  he  struggles  through  his  infancy, 
less  tended  than  the  lion's  whelp.  He  becomes  a  boy. 
He  is  covered  only  with  rags,  and  those  squalid  with 
long-accumulated  filth.  He  wanders  about  your  streets, 
too  low  even  to  seek  employment,  now  snatching  from  a 
gutter  half-rotten  fruit  which  the  owner  flings  away.  He 
is  ignorant ;  he  has  never  entered  a  schoolhouse ;  to  him 
even  the  alphabet  is  a  mystery.  He  is  young  in  years, 
yet  old  in  misery.  There  is  no  hope  in  his  face.  He 
herds  with  others  like  himself,  low,  ragged,  hungry,  and 
idle.  If  misery  loves  company,  he  finds  that  satisfaction. 
Follow  him  to  his  home  at  night;  he  herds  in  a  cellar ;  in 
the  same  sty  with  father,  mother,  brother,  sisters,  and 
perhaps  yet  other  families  of  like  degree.  What  served 
him  for  dress  by  day  is  his  only  bed  by  night. 


SELECTIONS  FOR  PBACTICE  229 

Well,  this  boy  steals  some  trifle,  a  biscuit,  a  bit  of 
rope,  or  a  knife  from  a  shop  window.  He  is  seized  and 
carried  to  jail.  He  sits  there  chained  like  a  beast :  a  boy 
in  irons !  the  sport  and  mockery  of  men  vulgar  as  the 
common  sewers.  His  trial  comes.  Of  course  he  is  con- 
victed. So  he  is  hurried  off  to  jail  at  a  tender  age,  and 
made  legally  the  companion  of  felons.  Who  would  em- 
ploy such  a  youth ;  with  such  a  reputation  ;  with  the  smell 
of  jail  in  his  very  breast?  Not  your  shrewd  men  of  busi- 
ness, they  know  the  risk ;  not  your  respectable  men,  mem- 
bers of  churches  and  all  that,  not  they !  Why,  it  would 
hurt  a  man's  reputation  for  piety  to  do  good  in  that 
way.  He  is  forced  back  into  crime  again.  I  say  forced, 
for  honest  men  will  not  employ  him  when  the  state  shoves 
him  out  of  jail.  Soon  you  will  have  him  in  court  again, 
to  be  punished  more  severely.  Then  he  goes  to  the  State 
prison,  and  then  again  and  again,  till  death  mercifully 
ends  his  career ! 


276.  Poverty 

"There  will  be  no  poverty  in  the  world  a  hundred 
years  from  now,"  says  Thomas  Edison.  "The  world 
will  be  flooded  witli  food,  clothing,  shelter,  and  luxuries. 
No  half-starved  children,  no  overworked  mothers,  no 
poverty-worried  fathers,  no  disease-breeding,  cheerless 
tenements." 

"Impossible,"  you  say. 

"But  why  should  we  expect  poverty  to  continue?" 
asks  Edison.  ' '  Poverty  was  for  a  world  that  used  only  its 
hands."  Now  that  men  have  begun  to  use  their  brains, 
poverty  is  decreasing — decreasing  though  we  have  been 
using  our  brains  only  a  little  while.    Think  how  long  the 


230  AMERICAN  SPEECH 

world  has  stood,  and  then  recall  that  practically  every- 
thing we  know  today  that  is  worth  while  we  have  learned 
within  a  hundred  years.  And  we  have  only  just  begun 
to  use  our  brains.  What  we  know  is  but  an  atom  of 
what  there  is  to  know.  But  we  are  learning  to  control 
the  forces  of  nature,  and  as  we  learn  we  shall  transform 
the  world.  The  most  wonderful  changes  are  coming — 
changes  about  which  no  one  today  can  do  more  than 
dream. 

Plenty  of  food,  clothing,  shelter,  and  luxuries !  What 
good  would  it  do  the  people  of  the  world  if  a  few  men 
should  own  all  these  things  ?  Edison  has  thought  of  that. 
He  realizes  the  size  of  the  problem.  But  he  says  it  is  a 
problem  in  the  solving  of  which  neither  he  nor  his  kind 
can  help.  Inventors  can  make  the  world  rich — only  the 
people  can  provide  the  governmental  means  for  enjoying 
the  riches  they  make.  He  believes  the  people  are  going  to 
provide  these  means,  and  that  there  will  come  a  day  when 
the  workingman  will  compel  government  to  serve  him, 
and  when  he  will  destroy  any  government  that  does  not 
serve  him. 

Such  is  the  world  that  Edison  sees  coming.  What  a 
flash-light  picture  of  the  future !  Man  at  last  coming 
into  his  own  because  he  knows  what  is  his  own,  and  knows 
what  is  his  own  because  his  own  brain  has  told  him.  Has 
told  him  that  everything  on  earth,  in  the  sky  and  beyond 
the  sky  is  his.  That  the  lightning  can  be  blended  to  his 
will,  the  cataract  harnessed  to  his  need,  and  the  dead 
iron  in  rocks  fashioned  into  tongues  that  speak  and  hands 
that  make.  Hands  that  can  spin  a  thread  of  silk  or  crush 
a  ton  of  rock.  Hands  that  can  make  in  abundance  what- 
ever human  beings  need. 

In  such  a  world  how  could  there  be  poverty? 


SELECTIONS  FOE  PRACTICE  231 

277.  The  Fault-Fixder 

The  fault-finders  are  not  all  dead.  It  is  scarcely  worth 
while  to  dwell  upon  ]\Ir.  Bernard  Shaw.  He  stands 
gloriously  alone,  the  one  living  man  who  finds  fault  with 
everything  and  everybody.  He  does  not  potter  weakly 
over  exceptions.  He  records  at  intervals  his  simple,  sin- 
cere conviction,  that  the  world  holds  upwards  of  two 
billion  fools  and  one  true  seer.  His  impartiality  does  him 
credit.  It  used  to  hurt  our  feelings  when  he  gave  us  to 
understand  that  he  loathed  and  despised  Americans  more 
than  he  loathed  and  despised  other  nations;  but  we  are 
slowly  creeping  back  to  self-esteem.  If  we  are  only  part 
of  a  loathsome  and  despicable  universe,  we  must  put  up 
with  our  share  of  shame. 

It  is  hardly  to  be  expected  that  lesser  fault-finders 
should  bear  comparison  with  this  great  master  of  the  art. 
"We  Americans  fought  for  life  in  our  day,  but  now  that 
we  play  only  the  philanthropist,  shrill  protests  are  heard 
on  every  side.  Pacificists  warn  us  that  we  are  encour- 
aging war;  economists  warn  us  that  we  are  sending  to 
Europe  the  help  which  is  needed  at  home ;  socialists 
warn  us  that  every  cent  that  we  save  is  an  injury  to  some 
workingman  at  our  doors. 

Other  fault-finders  anathematize  their  fellow-citizens 
who  see  fit  to  moderate  their  expenses.  If  a  rich  man 
gives  a  ball  with  his  usual  lavish  expenditure,  somebody 
calculates  the  number  of  Belgian  babies  he  has  starved 
by  not  applying  the  money  to  their  needs.  If  he  forgets 
to  flaunt  his  wealth  before  a  community,  somebody  else 
calculates  the  number  of  florists  and  caterers  and  wine- 
merchants  he  has  robbed.  If  he  thinks  that  he  ought  not 
to  keep  three  footmen  and  two  chauffeurs  while  wounded 
soldiers  die  for  want  of  hospital  supplies,  a  third  some- 


232  AMERICAN  SPEECH 

body  wants  to  know  if  footmen's  wives  and  chauffeurs' 
children  are  to  pay  the  penalty  for  such  capricious 
benevolence?  We  are  told  that  knitting  scarfs  and 
sweaters  is  an  overt  offense  against  neutrality.  We  are 
solemnly  warned  that  if  we  permit  American  lads  to  be 
imbued  with  a  love  for  America,  they  will  end  by  fight- 
ing for  their  country  if  she  be  imperiled — a  possibility 
too  painful  for  consideration. 


278.      A  Weakness  in  Our  Government 

We  Americans  very  rarely  stop  to  take  a  look  at  the 
whole  proposition  of  popular  government.  We  wrestle 
with  functions  instead  of  causes.  As  a  nation  we  have 
never  been  more  than  merely  superficial  in  our  theories 
of  political  science.  In  fact,  most  Americans  seem  un- 
aware that  there  is  such  a  thing  as  political  science.  Any 
sensible  lawyer  is  considered  competent  to  draft  a  plan 
of  government  for  a  city.  Honesty  qualifies  a  business 
man  to  go  to  a  state  constitutional  convention. 

So,  when  a  common  council  proves  corrupt,  our  city 
charter  is  merely  amended  to  transfer  the  control  of 
contracts  to  a  new  board  of  public  works.  If  the  state 
surveyor  is  untrustworthy,  we  create  a  new  official  to 
build  the  new  canal.  In  both  cases  refoi-m  is  for  the 
moment  achieved,  since  corruption  is  a  plant  that  often 
takes  more  than  a  moment  in  which  to  grow  in  a  new 
environment.  So  we  go  on,  doctoring  symptoms,  instead 
of  looking  for  the  disease. 

In  fact,  in  any  exploration  in  the  direction  of  funda- 
mentals, we  are  stopped  time  and  again  by  certain  wide- 
spread political  superstitions  among  our  people — super- 
stitions that  usually  have  as  their  nucleus  an  ancient 
catch  phrase.    Propose  that  the  mayor  be  allowed  a  seat 


SELECTIONS  FOE  PB  ACT  ICE  233 

and  vote  in  the  council,  and  the  proposal  will  be  heard 
on  its  own  merits  until  someone  says,  "That  violates  the 
principles  of  'separation  of  powers.'  There  you  have 
legislative  and  executive  functions  united, ' '  and  with  the 
advent  of  the  catch  phrase,  it  is  deemed  the  duty  of  the 
proposer  to  bow  in  awed  silence,  as  if  the  argument  were 
ended. 

Propose  to  make  the  office  of  state  engineer  appointive 
on  the  ground  that  the  plan  of  having  him  elected  has 
worked  badly,  and  the  word  "undemocratic"  falls  like 
a  gavel  to  end  the  discussion.  Plead  that  a  referendum 
on  a  technical  subject  is  little  better  than  leaving  the 
decision  to  chance,  and  the  query,  "Don't  you  trust  the 
people  ? "  is  supposed  to  retire  you  in  confusion.  Robert 
Louis  Stevenson  was  right  when  he  said,  "Man  shall  not 
live  by  bread  alone,  but  principally  by  catch  phrases." 

Take,  for  example,  the  greatest  of  all  catch  phrases — 
namely,  "the  people,"  pronounced  "pee-pul"!  Or, 
worse  yet,  "the  plain  peepul,"  who  1  believe  have  cer- 
tain supernatural  virtues  not  possessed  by  others.  It  is 
lese  majeste  to  allege  that  there  are  any  limitations  to 
the  people  in  either  morals  or  learning.  How  can  one 
get  a  viewpoint  from  which  only  the  fundamental  fea- 
tures are  in  view — as  long  as  people  hold  such  ideas? 

279.  The  Dreamers 

They  are  the  architects  of  greatness.  Their  vision  lies 
within  their  souls.  They  never  see  the  mirages  of  fact, 
but  peer  beyond  the  veil  and  mist  of  doubt.  They  are  the 
Argonauts — the  seekers  of  the  priceless  fleece.  They  dare 
uncharted  seas,  for  they  are  the  makers  of  charts;  and 
with  only  cloth  of  courage  at  their  masts,  and  with  no 
compass  save  their  dreams,  they  sail  undaunted  to  the 
far,  blind  shore. 


234  AMERICAN  SPEECH 

Makers  of  empire,  they  fought  for  bigger  things  than 
crowns,  for  higher  seats  than  thrones.  Fanfare,  pageant;' 
the  right  to  rule,  the  will  to  love,  are  not  the  fires  that 
wrought  their  resolution  into  steel.  Their  brains  have 
wrought  all  human  miracles.  In  lace  of  stone  their  spires 
stab  the  old-world  skies,  and  with  their  crosses  kiss  the 
sun.  The  belted  wheel,  the  trail  of  steel,  the  churning 
screw — are  but  the  shuttle  of  the  loom  on  which  they 
weave  their  magic  tapestries.  A  flash  of  light  in  the 
darkness  leaps  league  on  league  of  snarling  seas  and 
cries  to  shore  for  help.  Their  tunnels  bore  the  river-beds 
and  join  the  islands  to  the  mother-land.  Their  wdngs  of 
canvas  beat  the  air  and  add  the  highway  of  the  eagle  to 
the  paths  of  men.  A  God-hewn  voice  wells  from  a  disc 
of  glue  and  swells  from  out  a  throat  of  brass  to  live  be- 
yond the  maker  of  tlie  song — because  a  dreamer  dreamed. 

They  are  the  chosen  few,  the  blazers  of  the  way,  who 
never  wear  doubt's  bandage  on  their  eyes,  who  chill  and 
starve  and  hurt,  but  hold  to  courage  and  to  hope,  because 
they  know  that  there  is  always  proof  of  truth  to  him  who 
will  but  try;  and  that  only  cowardice  and  lack  of  faith 
can  keep  a  seeker  from  his  chosen  goal ;  and  that  if  he  be 
strong  enough,  and  dream  enough,  and  dream  it  hard 
enough,  he  can  attain,  no  matter  where  men  have  failed 
before. 

Walls  crumble,  empires  pass  away,  the  tidal  wave 
sweeps  in  and  tears  away  the  fortress  from  its  rock. 
The  rotting  nations  drop  from  off  time's  bough, — and 
only  things  wliieh  dreamers  make  live  on. 

280.        An  Allegory  of  the  Centuries 

When  the  Nineteenth  Century  died,  its  Spirit  de- 
scended into  the  vaulted  chambers  of  the  past,  where  the 


SELECTIONS  FOB  PRACTICE  235 

Spirits  of  dead  centuries  sit  on  granite  thrones  together. 
When  the  newcomer  entered,  all  turned  toward  him  and 
the  Spirit  of  the  Eighteenth  Century  spoke  :  ' '  Tell  thy 
tale,  brother.  Give  us  word  of  the  human  kind  we  left 
to  thee." 

"I  am  the  Spirit  of  the  Wonderful  Centuiy.  I  gave 
men  the  mastery  over  nature.  Discoveries  and  inven- 
tions, which  lighted  the  black  spaces  of  the  past  like 
lonely  stars,  have  clustered  in  a  milky  way  of  radiance 
under  my  rule.  One  man  now  does  by  the  touch  of  his 
hand  what  the  toil  of  a  thousand  slaves  never  did.  Knowl- 
edge has  unlocked  the  mines  of  wealth,  and  the  hoarded 
wealth  of  today  creates  the  vaster  wealth  of  tomorrow. 
Man  has  escaped  the  slavery  of  Necessity,  and  is  free. 

"I  freed  the  thoughts  of  men.  They  face  the  facts 
and  know.  Their  knowledge  is  common  to  all.  The 
deeds  of  the  East  at  eve  are  known  to  the  West  at  morn. 
They  send  their  whispers  under  the  seas  and  across  the 
clouds. 

' '  I  broke  the  chains  of  Bigotry  and  Despotism.  I  made 
men  free  and  equal.  Every  man  feels  the  worth  of  his 
manhood. 

"I  have  touched  the  summit  of  History.  I  did  for 
mankind  what  none  of  you  did  before.  They  are  rich. 
They  are  wise.     They  are  free." 

The  Spirits  of  the  dead  Centuries  sat  silent,  with 
troubled  eyes.  At  last  the  Spirit  of  the  First  Century 
spoke  for  them  all. 

"We  all  spoke  proudly  when  we  came  here  in  the 
flush  of  our  deeds ;  and  thou  more  proudly  than  we  all. 
But  as  we  sit  and  think  of  what  was  before  us  and  what 
has  come  after  us,  shame  and  guilt  bear  down  our 
pride.  Your  words  sound  as  if  the  redemption  of  man 
had  come  at  last.     Has  it  come? 


236  AMERICAN  SPEECH 

"You  have  made  men  rich.  Tell  us,  are  none  in  pain 
with  hunger  today,  and  none  in  fear  of  hunger  for  to- 
morrow? Do  all  children  grow  up  fair  of  limb  and 
trained  for  thought  and  action?  Do  none  die  before 
their  time  ?  Has  the  mastery  over  nature  made  men 
free  to  enjoy  their  lives  and  loves,  and  to  live  the  higher 
life  of  the  mind  ? 

"You  have  made  men  wise.  Are  they  wise  or  cun- 
ning? Have  they  learned  tq  restrain  their  bodily  pas- 
sions? Have  they  learned  to  deal  with  their  fellows  in 
justice  and  love? 

"You  have  set  men  free.  Are  there  none,  then,  who 
toil  for  others  against  their  will  ?  Are  all  men  free  to 
do  the  work  they  love  the  best  ? 

"You  have  made  men  one.  Are  there  no  barriers  of 
class  to  keep  man  and  maid  apart?  Do  none  rejoice  in 
the  cause  that  makes  the  many  moan  ?  Do  men  no  longer 
spill  the  blood  of  men  for  their  ambition,  and  the  sweat 
of  men  for  their  greed?" 

As  the  Spirit  of  the  Nineteenth  Century  listened,  his 
head  sank  to  his  breast. 

"Your  shame  is  already  upon  me,"  he  said.  "My 
great  cities  are  as  yours  were ;  my  millions  live  from 
hand  to  mouth.  Those  who  toil  longest  have  least.  My 
thousands  sink  exhausted  before  their  days  are  half 
spent.  My  human  wreckage  multiplies.  Class  faces  class 
in  sullen  distrust.  Their  freedom  and  knowledge  have 
only  made  men  keener  to  suffer.  Give  me  a  seat  among 
you,  and  let  me  think  why  it  has  been  so. ' ' 

The  others  turned  to  the  Spirit  of  the  First  Century. 
' '  Your  promised  redemption  is  long  in  coming. ' ' 

"But  it  will  come,"  he  replied. 


selections  fob  practice  237 

281.  The  Fool 

There  lived  a  fool. 

For  a  long  time  he  lived  in  peace  and  contentment; 
but'  by  degrees  rumors  began  to  reach  him  that  he  was 
regarded  on  all  sides  as  a  vulgar  idiot. 

The  fool  was  abashed  and  began  to  ponder  gloomily 
how  he  might  put  an  end  to  these  unpleasant  rumors. 

A  sudden  idea,  at  last,  illuminated  his  dull  little  brain. 
And,  without  the  slightest  delay,  he  put  it  into  practice. 

A  friend  met  him  in  the  street,  and  fell  to  praising  a 
well-known  painter. 

"Upon  my  word!"  cried  the  fool,  "that  painter  was 
out  of  date  long  ago.  You  didn't  know  it?  I  should 
never  have  expected  it  of  you.  You  are  quite  behind  the 
times. ' ' 

The  friend  was  alarmed,  and  promptly  agreed  with 
the  fool. 

"Such  a  splendid  book  I  read  yesterday,"  said  an- 
other friend  to  him. 

"Upon  my  word!"  cried  the  fool,  "I  wonder  you're 
not  ashamed.  That  book 's  good  for  nothing ;  ever^'one  's 
seen  through  it  long  ago.  Didn  't  you  know  it  ?  You  're 
quite  behind  the  times. ' ' 

This  friend  too  was  alarmed,  and  he  agreed  with  the 
fool. 

"What  a  wonderful  man  N.  is !"  said  a  third  friend  to 
the  fool.    ' '  Now  there 's  a  really  generous  creature ! ' ' 

"Upon  my  word!"  cried  the  fool.  "N. !  N.,  the  noto- 
rious scoundrel !  He  swindled  all  his  relations.  Every- 
one knows  that.    You're  quite  behind  the  times." 

The  third  friend  too  was  alarmed,  and  he  agreed  with 
the  fool   and   deserted  his  friend.     And   whoever  and 


238  AMEBIC  AN  SPEECH 

whatsoever  was  praised  in  the  fool's  presence  he  had  the 
same  retort  for  everything.  Sometimes  he  would  add 
reproachfully  :  ' '  And  do  you  still  believe  in  authorities  ? ' ' 

"Spiteful!  Malignant!"  his  friends  began  to  say  of 
the  fool.  ' '  But  what  a  brain ! "  "  And  what  a  tongue ! ' ' 
others  would  add.    ' '  Oh,  yes,  he  has  the  talent. ' ' 

It  ended  in  the  editor  of  a  journal's  proposing  to  the 
fool  that  he  should  undertake  their  reviewing  column. 
And  the  fool  fell  to  criticizing  everything  and  everyone, 
without  in  the  least  changing  his  manner,  or  his 
exclamations. 

Now  lie  who  once  disclaimed  against  authorities  is 
himself  an  authority,  and  the  young  men  venerate  him, 
and  fear  him. 

And  what  else  can  they  do?  One  ought  not,  as  a 
general  rule,  to  venerate  anyone ;  hut  in  this  case,  if  one 
didn't  venerate  him,  one  would  find  oneself  quite  behind 
the  times. 

Fools  have  a  good  time  among  cowards. 

282.  Ambition 

Once  upon  a  time  an  angel  flew  over  the  earth  and 
passed  above  a  swampy  forest.  Where  he  was  going  or 
what  he  was  seeking  one  cannot  say,  for  the  ways  of 
angels  are  beyond  man's  understanding. 

Now  in  the  swamp  lived  a  nixieman,  a  sort  of  strange 
water  monster.  He  was  hairless  and  naked  with  a  skin 
like  a  frog's,  and  great  staring  eyes — an  uncouth  being. 
He  lived  in  the  water  under  the  roots  of  great  trees, 
where  he  fed  upon  the  creeping  things  of  the  forest  and 
made  a  muddy  bed  among  the  water-weeds.  At  night 
he  would  swim  down  deep  into  the  water  of  the  lake 
among  the  lily-pads.    Here  he  would  listen  to  the  frogs 


SELECTIONS  FOB  PRACTICE  239 

and  try  to  imitate  them.  He  may  have  been  too  dull 
to  know  happiness,  but  he  was  at  least  one  of  God's 
creatures. 

But  now  the  angel  saw  and  pitied  him.  He  came  down 
into  the  depth  of  the  forest  and  picked  up  the  nixie. 
He  rose  higher  and  higher  and  left  the  forest.  Then  the 
nixie  wondered  to  see  how  broad  and  fair  the  earth  was 
— much  greater  and  better  than  his  home  in  the  morasses. 
Finally  they  left  the  stars  below  them  and  went  even  as 
far  as  the  gates  of  heaven.  But  the  angel  said  to  him- 
self, "I  have  done  enough  for  this  foul  creature!"  So 
he  let  the  nixie  fall,  and  he  fell  down  into  the  dismal 
forest,  where  he  lay  crushed  and  groaning. 

The  nixie  had  seen  the  gates  of  the  heavenly  city,  and 
he  could  think  of  nothing  else.  So  he  dragged  his  broken 
body  away  from  the  water  to  the  uplands.  Here  above 
him  at  night  he  could  see  the  stars  shining,  and  beyond 
he  knew  was  the  city.  He  crawled  steadily  upward.  The 
sun  was  hot  for  a  water  creature.  His  body  became  dry 
and  stiff  and  turned  black.  As  he  climbed  heights  nearer 
the  sky,  his  way  became  brighter  and  harder.  At  last 
he  could  go  no  further. 

Again  the  angel  flew  by  and  saw  him.  "He  has  seen 
the  gates  of  heaven  and  is  trying  to  climb  to  them!" 
thought  the  angel.  So  he  picked  him  up  and  flew  with 
him  until  they  came  again  to  the  gates  of  heaven ;  then 
the  nixieman  forgot  all  he  had  suffered.  But  the  angel 
said  to  himself,  ' '  This  time  he  must  be  satisfied ! "  So  he 
left  the  nixie  and  entered  the  city. 

Is  it  not  odd  that  such  a  monster  should  have  such 
ambition?  Perhaps  you  are  wearied  with  the  tale,  for 
with  you  everything  is  fine  and  pleasant,  and  you  are  as 
far  removed  from  the  nixie  as  the  angels  are.  Yet  it 
might  be  interesting  to  you  to  learn  how  this  strange 


240  AMEBIC  AN  SPEECH 

being  with  eyes  made  for  darkness  and  a  body  made  for 
living  in  filth  was  so  foolish  as  to  dream  of  entering 
heaven. 


SELECTIONS  FOB  PRACTICE  241 

A  LIST  OF  USEFUL  BOOKS  FOR  STUDENTS  OF 
THE  VOICE  AND  ITS  USE  IN  SPEECH 

This  list  is  not  exhaustive  nor  exclusive.  Books 
on  the  subject  are  legion  and  could  not  all  be 
named.  Those  named  are  reliable  and  accurate. 
Students  who  use  them  should  distinguish  between 
English  and  American  authors  and  usage.  Eng- 
lish speech  and  American  speech  are  quite  differ- 
ent, and  statements  that  are  right  about  one  may 
be  not  right  about  the  other. 

The  Voice — W.  A.  Aikin.     Longmans,  Green  &  Co. 

The  Natural  Method  of  Voice  Production — F.  G.  Muckey, 
Scribners. 

The  Organs  of  Speech — G.  H.  von  Meyer.     Appleton 

&Co. 

The  Elements  of  Experimental  Phonetics — E.  W.  Scrip- 
ture.    Scribners. 

An  Introduction  to  Phonetics — Laura  Soames.  The  Mac- 
millan  Co. 

The  Sounds  of  English — Henry  Sweet.  Oxford  Uni- 
versity Press. 

The  Sounds  of  Spoken  English — Walter  Rippman.  But- 
ton &  Co. 

Lisping  and  Stammering — E.  "W".  Scripture.     Scribners. 

The  N.  E.  A.  Alphabet  with  a  Review  of  the  Whipple 
Experiments — Raymond  Weeks  and  others.  The  New 
Era  Co. 

The  Standard  of  Pronunciation  in  English — T.  R.  Louns- 
bury.     Harpers. 


242  AMERICAN  SPEECH 

The    Voice    and    Spiritual    Education — Hiram    Corson. 
The  Macmillan  Co. 

The   Historical   Study  of  the   Mother   Tongue— H.    C. 
Wyld.    Murray,  London. 

The  Growth  and  Structure  of  the  English  Language — 
0.  Jesperson. 

A  Modem  English  Grammar — 0.  Jesperson. 

The  two  books  by  Jesperson  may  be  obtained  of  G.  C. 
Stechert  &  Co.,  New  York. 


INDEX 


Acquittal  of  Bun;  The,  198 

' '  Adam  's  Apple, ' '  16 

AgieeabJe  voice,  28,  105 

AH  sound,  22 

Aliens  in  America,  211 

Ambition,  2;:)S 

American     speech,     dialect     in, 

132 ;  primary  vowels  in,  19 
A7i  Accident,  186 
An  Allcgon)  of  the  Centuries, 

234 
Another  Day,  182 
Argument,  154 
Attention,  93 
AY  sound,  23 

B 

Boston  Massacre,  The,  189 
Breath,  The,  10 
Breath  control,  12,  28 
Breathing,  10,  11  fig. 
Breathing  exercises,  12-14 
Breathy  quality,  103 
Brief,  specimen,  162,  3 
Briefing  in  debate,  160-3 
Bronchial  tubes,  10 
Burdens  of  War,  The,  175 


Change    of    pitch,    110-113;    of 

quality,  98,  99 
Cheeks,  17 
Chest,  9,  10 

Chest  breathing,   14,   15 
Christopher  CoJumhus,  199 
Chivalnj,  225 

Children  of  the  Poor,  228 
Clear  voice,  26 
Committee  on  American  Speech, 

144 


Common  Man,   The,  212 

Connotative  tone,  105 

Consonants,  17;  sounds,  39; 
classification  of,  40 ;  pairs  of, 
40;  spelling  of,  52,  53 

Continuants,  40 

Correcting  dialect,  132-5 

Corson,  Hiram,  105 

D 

Deathless  Endeavor,  185 

Debate,  155-170;  propositions 
for,  156,  7;  material,  156, 
163;  sununary,  164;  preparing 
speeches,  164,  165 ;  rebuttal, 
165;  order  of  speakers,  166; 
time  of  speeches,  166 ;  for- 
malities in  debate,  167 ;  the 
gavel  in,  168;  criticism  in, 
168 

Dental  combinations,  56,  57 

Dental  sounds,  40,  44-48 

Derelict,  The,  171 

Determining    the    pitch    of    tlie 
voice,  106 

Diaphragm,  9,  11  fig. 

Dialect  speech,   132-135 

Difficult  consonant  endings,  56- 
60 

Diphthongs  with  R,  37 

Discussion,    informal,    154,    5 

Don'ts   for  debaters,   169-170 

Dreamers,  The,  233 

E 

EE  sound,  24 
Elements  of  speech,  19 
Emphasis,     116-122;     principles 

of,  122-125;  end  words,  125 
Enenui  of  the  People,  An,  208 
Epiglottis,  9  fig. 
Exhalation,   11 


243 


244 


AMEBICAN  SPEECH 


F 

Fame  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  The, 

206 
Fault-finder,    The,    231 
Faulty  pitch,  107,  108 
Final  syllables,  68-71 
First  syllables,  61-65 ;  exercises 

in  pronouncing,  61-65 
Fluctuation  of  attention,  93 
Force,  73 ;  exercises  in,  74-91 
Forced  breathing,  11,  12 
Fool,  The,  237 
Formalities  in  debate,  167,  168 

G 

Galilean  Vagabond,  A,  174 
Gavel,  The,  in  debate,  168 
Government  and  Business,  221 
Grant  and  Lee,  192 
Guttural  sounds,   39 
Guttural  quality,  101,  102 

H 

Hard  palate,  9  fig.,  17 
mils  of  Death,  The,  222 
Houses  of  Moloch,  172 


Importance  of  proper  pitch,  107 
Inflections,     113-116;     upward, 

114;     downward,     114,     115; 

double,   115,   116 
Informal  discussions,  154,   155 
Inhalation,  11 
Initial  ff,   66 
Initial  7?,  39 
Intonation,  a  source  of  dialect, 

135 
Involuntary  breathing,   11 
Issues  in  debate,  160,  161 


John  Brown's  Spirit,  191 


Labial  combinations,  56 
Labial  sounds,  40,  41-44 
Larynx,  9,  16 


Law  of  Life,  The,  181 
Life  through  Socialism,  219 
Lincoln,  202 
Lincoln's  Faith,  204 
Lingual   combinations,   58 
Lingual  sounds,  39,  48,  49 
Lips,  17 
Lungs,  9,  10 

M 

Man's  Heart,  A,  188 
Material  for  debate,  157-163 
Memorized   speech,  the,   141-144 
Methods     of    acquiring     speech 

sounds,  19 
Middle  sounds  in  words,  67,  68 
Mixed  vowel  sounds,   33,  34 
Mixed  vowel   sounds,  errors  in, 

35 ;  exercises,  35 
Mixed  vowels  with  H,  37 
Muckey,  Dr.  Floyd  G.,   18,  239 
Murder    of    Abraham    Lincoln, 

The,  201 

N 

Nasal  cavity,  9  fig.,  17 

Nasal  combinations,  60 

Nasality,  27 

Nasal  obstructions,  28 

Nasal  sounds,  39,  51 

Natural  Method  of  Voice  Pro- 
duction (Muckey),  18,  239 

Neutral  quality,  99 

Neill  at  Cawnpore,  177 

Non-re?trictive  modifiers,  127, 
128 

Normal  pitch,  108,  109 

Notes  in  debate,  165 

O 

Obstructions,  28 

OH  sound,  21 

00  sound,  20 

Oral  conijiosition,  147;  subjects, 
148,  149  ;  material,  149  ;  deter- 
mining the  theme,  150 ;  pre- 
sentation, 150;   criticism,  151 

Order  of  speakers  in  debate,  166 

Oregon  TraU,  The,  196 

Organs  of  speech,  17 

Original  speech,  the,  145,  146 

Orotund  quality,  99 


INDEX 


245 


Pairs  of  consonants,  40 

Palatal  combinations,  59,  60 

Palatal  soinnls,  ^9,  50,  51 

Palmer,  Erastus,  116 

Palate,  9  fig.,  27 

Pharynx,  9  fig. 

People  or  Pign,  207 

Phrasing,   126,   127 

Pitch,  17,  27,  106;  relative,  106; 
how  to  determine,  106;  im- 
portance of,  107  ;  faulty,  107  ; 
effects  of  too  high,  107 ;  dan- 
ger of  faulty,  108;  normal, 
108,  109;  exercises,  109,  110; 
changing,  110,  113 

Poetry,  reading,   128-131 

Paverti/,  229 

Predatory  Rich,  The,  209 

Primary  vowel  sounds,  19,  34; 
exercises,  25,  26 

Principles  of  Oral  English  (Pal- 
mer), 116 

Pronunciation,   faulty,   71 

Proposition  for  debate,  156,  157 

Psychology  of  Public  Speaking 
(Scott),  93 

Puritan  Principles,  214 

Purposes  of  speaking  in  public, 
136-139 

Q 

Quality  of  tone,  26;  exercises, 
29-33 

Quality,  97;  change  of,  98;  neu- 
tral, 99;  orotund,  99,  101; 
guttural,  101-103;  breathy, 
103-105;  nasal,  105 

R 

Rate,  91;  exercises,  92,  93,  95- 
97;  to  lessen,  93,  94;  when  to 
change,  94;  normal,  94,  95; 
increased,  94,  96,  97;  slow, 
94-96 

Rebuttal  in  debate,  165 

Resonators,  9,  19 

Restrictive    modifiers,    127,    128 

E  sound,  37-39,  66,  67 

Rules  of  formal  debate,  155 

Rhythm,  a  source  of  dialect,  135 


S 

San  Martin,  195 
Scott,  Walter  Dill,  93 
Sculptured  Figures  of  Society, 

224 
Selections  for  practice,  171-240 
Sentences,    words   combined   in, 

72 
Soldier  of  France,  A,  179 
Sonants,  40,  41 
Sounds    combined    into    words, 

54;    exercises,  54-71 
Speaking    in    public,    136;    pur- 
poses of,  136-139 
Speech,  17 
Speech,    how    to    prepare,    141- 

146 ;  in  debate,  164,  165 
Spelling    of    consonant    sounds, 

52,  53 
Soft  palate,  9  fig.,  17 
Sound,  17 

Spirit  of  the  Past,  The,  217 
Spirit  of  the  South,  The,  194 
Stops,  40 
Subjects    for    public    speaking, 

139-141 
Summary  in  debate,  164 
Surds,  40,  41 

T 

Table     (Bell's)     of    consonant 

sounds,  41 
Teeth,  17 

Terminal  E,  37,  38 
Throat  contraction,  27 
Time  in  debate,  166 
Tongue,  9  fig.,  17 
Triphthongs  with  E,  37,  38 
Tico  Pictures,  183 


Variations    of    speech,    73;    of 

force,.  73,  74 
Vocal  cords,  9,  16,  17,  18,  28 
Vocal  sound,  17 
Voice,    an   agreeable,   28,    105 
Voice  and  Spiritual   Education 

(Corson),  105 
Volume,   17 


246 


AMERICAN  SPEECH 


Voluntary  breathing,  11 
Vowels,  17 

Vowel  sounds,   19;    spelling  of, 
36,    37 

W 

Wandering  Jew,  The,  226 
War,  A  Symlol  of  Duty,  216 


Weakness   in.   Our   Government, 

A,  232 
We  Poor  Dead,  220 
WH  sound,  67 
Windpipe,  9,  10,  16 
Words  combined  into  sentences, 

72 
Written  composition,  151-153 


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